Part 21 (2/2)

”Lady Catherine Archer?” I heard my voice rise with hope.

”She is Cate now,” said Graham coldly. ”She is much changed.”

”I would know her anywhere. Tell me where she waits.”

But Graham would not reply. I glanced around, hoping to spy where she was hiding. My gaze fell on Manteo, who stood with all his muscles tense, like a lynx about to leap.

Then I knew with a bitter certainty the reason why Catherine hid herself from me. It was a blow I had not foreseen, yet one I deserved.

”Has she found a husband then?” I asked, trying to sound careless.

”No.” Manteo's simple denial was sharp with warning.

Yet my hopes soared again. Catherine had no one to bind her to this place. She had kept herself free and waited for me.

”Then I will find her,” I said.

Chapter 42.

Cate's Choice When it was clear the Englishmen would come ash.o.r.e, Weyawinga sent the women and children into the woods about a mile from the village. No palisade or fort could provide better cover than the groves of trees and thick bushes, and there we hid. Some of us were armed, should it become necessary to protect the others. I carried a bow and arrows, which Manteo had taught me to use, although I did not relish using them to shoot a man. Alice had a pistol and the Croatoan women had knives.

Betty would not carry a weapon. ”I trust G.o.d to defend me,” she said.

Mika kept the children calm by singing quietly to them. Her belly was visibly round, and I wondered whether her babe would resemble her or Graham. Takiwa, unafraid, had stayed in the village. We waited for hours, expecting to hear the crack of musket fire and war whoops, but the only sounds were the wind in the trees, small creatures in the underbrush, and birdsong. Then a breathless Takiwa came running and said a single boat had landed and its two pa.s.sengers were talking with Weyawinga.

I was relieved there would be no bloodshed, but somewhat bewildered. ”Who are the two men?” I asked her.

”One, Manteo says, is the English governor.”

”It must be John White!” I said. ”And who is the other?” I asked Takiwa.

She shrugged. ”He is not clothed like a man of any importance.”

”There is no danger, so let's go back,” said Alice. ”I want to hear the news from England-how the queen fares, whether there has been war with Spain, what the ladies are wearing now.” Her eyes shone with excitement.

I, too, was full of questions. Was Emme still in the queen's favor? Was she married yet? And Frances, had she been rewarded for her spying? Did the queen, who once said she would be like my mother, ever speak of me? John White could not satisfy me on these matters, but surely he could answer one question that still tugged at my vanity: Had Sir Walter forgotten me? Had Sir Walter forgotten me?

”Yes, we must welcome John White,” I said, taking Virginia's hand.

Betty and Alice and her boy rose to follow me, but Joan Mannering held back.

”Nay, I am ashamed to be seen by an outsider,” she said. ”At my age, to be dressed in this manner?”

”Our b.r.e.a.s.t.s are covered, and our loins, with cloth and skins. Eve wore far less,” said Betty.

”Yes, and Eve had reason to be ashamed,” said Joan, unpersuaded. She chose to stay with the Croatoan women until Weyawinga summoned them back.

As we neared the village I began to have misgivings.

”Alice, Betty, wait!” I pleaded. ”What if John White has come to take Virginia away with him? I can't let her go.”

”He has no doubt learned of Eleanor's death. After coming all this way, he deserves to see that his granddaughter lives,” said Betty gently. ”You cannot deny him that.”

She was right. And so with hesitant steps I led Virginia to the outskirts of the village, where we waited to be certain it was safe to enter. I saw John White sitting on a stool near Weyawinga's canopy, looking old and defeated. His companion was acting like someone of importance, though he was rudely clothed. He remonstrated with Graham and the others, demanding something they would not give him. As he looked back and forth, his long hair flew from side to side. His face was bearded and he wore a silver earring. Indeed, he resembled nothing so much as the pirates I had seen on the wharves in London and Portsmouth. Presently he dashed from the scene, and I ventured forth, carrying John White's granddaughter.

When he saw me, Manteo looked alarmed. He glanced over his shoulder at the departing figure and moved closer as if to protect me. I wondered if there were some danger I could not see, even as I felt the familiar pleasure of his nearness.

John White looked up at me with his eyebrows raised. I was startled by his appeareance. The last three years had whitened his hair and stolen much flesh from his bones. Eleanor would have rushed to feed him.

”Good day, Governor White, and welcome,” I said.

”Lady Catherine. I, too, would know you anywhere,” he replied.

Those were strange words of greeting, I thought. Was his mind broken from grief? I turned the child in my arms so he could see her.

”Is it Virginia Dare? My Virginia?” he whispered. Tears glistened in his eyes.

No, she is mine. My dear one. But I nodded and set the child on his lap for him to hold. But I nodded and set the child on his lap for him to hold. If he takes Virginia away, I must go too, for I promised Eleanor I would take care of her. If he takes Virginia away, I must go too, for I promised Eleanor I would take care of her.

White held his granddaughter as if she were made of gla.s.s and kissed her head. ”Ah, Virginia. You've never known any world but this one for which you are named.”

The child began to wriggle and fret. Did she sense he meant to take her away? She held out her arms to me. ”You hold me, Mama Cate.”

”In a minute, dear heart,” I said, holding myself back with difficulty. ”This is your grandpapa, who has not seen you since you were born.” My voice caught as I remembered how afraid I had been of Eleanor dying in childbirth. That was before our troubles began in earnest: before disease and starvation; before the cruel hanging, Betty Vickers's banishment, and my own captivity; before Ananias was killed by Indians and Eleanor by a fever; before our exodus from Fort Ralegh more than a year ago. How much this hardy child and I had survived together!

”I am sorry about Eleanor,” I said, old guilt pressing against my ribs.

White sighed heavily. ”I tried many times to return. I wanted nothing more than to grow old in this New World with my family.” He tilted Virginia's head so he could see her face. ”Her eyes are like her mother's.”

Then he stood up and handed me the child. Virginia wrapped her hands around my neck and her feet around my waist, holding on like an opossum clinging to a branch.

”Now it is enough for me to know my daughter's daughter will live out her life here,” he said. ”If you choose to remain, she must stay with you.”

”Thank you!” My breath rushed out and I embraced him, the child between us. I felt I had been given a gift more valuable than any trinket from the queen, any nickname or words of praise, a treasure worth more than a hundred baskets of pearls.

But then John White made my complete little world quake and quiver.

”Leave the child with me for a moment, and go that way.” He pointed to the seaward side of the island. ”Sir Walter searches for you.”

At first I could not comprehend his words. The pirate I had seen with John White bore no resemblance to Ralegh. I wondered if the governor had fallen in with brigands and was now engaged in their deceptions. But why would he lure me to follow one of them? Did he intend in my absence to steal Virginia and row back to the s.h.i.+p? That made no sense. But why should I leave the child and run after an unknown sea-rover, putting myself in danger?

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