Cate of the Lost Colony - Lisa Klein [80]
We were in the rowboat when, to my surprise, Manteo appeared on the shore.
“I do not wish you to go to Dasemunkepeuc,” he said. “You may be in danger there.”
Jane glanced from Manteo to me and raised her eyebrows. I knew what she was thinking and I gave her a warning look.
“Lord Manteo,” I said. “At present we are in more danger from certain men here at Fort Ralegh.”
“You do not understand. Some of the Croatoan have gone over to Wanchese,” he said to me in his tongue.
“Surely not our friends at Dasemunkepeuc,” I said. “They are too few to merit Wanchese’s interest.”
Rather than argue, Manteo climbed into the boat. He picked up an oar and stood in the stern holding it like a staff. To show his displeasure, he refused to row. His back was to me. A deerskin hung down over his loins, and a leather thong held his bow and a case of arrows behind his shoulder. The muscles in his legs quivered, holding him in perfect balance.
I took a spare oar and, surprised by my own strength, helped Graham row the crowded little boat to Dasemunkepeuc. The village looked as peaceful as ever. Because of the warm day, the mats over the doors of Tameoc’s house were tied back. Jane exclaimed over everything from the houses to the frames for tanning hides, for this was her first visit to the village. A bowl of grain sat beside a quern as if someone had just been grinding it. Then Mika appeared at the door. If I had looked more closely at her eyes, I might have seen a warning there. But I was watching with some dismay the direction of Graham’s gaze, which had settled on Mika’s uncovered breasts.
Jane also noticed and began to giggle.
“Where is everyone?” Alice said.
And then events befell in a confused and rapid sequence.
Manteo shouted a warning and drew out his bow. Graham whirled around and aimed his musket. From the bushes warriors rushed forth with sharp cries. They were bedecked with feathers and paint and carried their muskets as if they were mattocks for breaking the ground. Graham fired but had no time to reload before they were upon him. Jane, Alice, and I fell to the ground in a huddle, too frightened even to cry out.
Manteo was soon disarmed by the leader of the attackers, a smaller Indian with a beaked nose and scars on his face. I recognized him from long ago, when he strode with Manteo into the queen’s banquet hall. It was the hated Wanchese. He and Manteo were arguing, speaking so rapidly I could not understand them.
“Manteo, you betrayed us!” cried Graham.
Manteo turned to him with a look of fierce denial. I did not want to believe he had led us into a trap. He had warned us, after all. Some of the Croatoan have gone over to Wanchese.
Then I saw the sword Tameoc had stolen—in Wanchese’s hand. Tameoc himself stood beside the Roanoke chief. I thought he had promised John White he would not become Wanchese’s ally. Since then he had not only stolen the sword, but apparently the muskets now in the Roanoke warriors’ hands.
“Graham, don’t blame Manteo. It was Tameoc’s doing,” I said. “See the sword?” I suspected Tameoc had been forced to do Wanchese’s bidding, for he would not have given up the fine sword of his own will.
The warriors made us rise and they bound our hands. Alice began to weep.
“My son, my dear little boy, what will he do without his mother?”
“Let her go. She has an infant to care for,” Manteo said.
Wanchese hesitated, then motioned for Alice to be freed.
“Take her back. And warn the English what their fate will be if they do not leave the island,” Wanchese ordered Manteo.
“If I return there, they will say I gave you these captives, and they will kill me,” Manteo said. “If I am dead, who will persuade the rest of the Croatoan to take your side?”
I stared at Manteo in confusion. Was he planning to deliver his own people to Wanchese? Perhaps he was simply afraid to face Bailey and Ananias with news that Wanchese had captured us. Why had he let Wanchese take us without a fight?
“If the English kill you, then the Croatoan will turn against them, which will serve my ends,” said Wanchese with a sneer.