In The Fog of Roanoke

The fog was thick over the colony of Roanoke. Anna had risen before her father and snuck out the back door to the woods. The only thing that made the three-month long trip worth it was the clearing behind her house. She wore a pair of her father's trousers and shirt under her heavy winter coat. She carried all the pieces of her gown, tied in a bundle under her arm as she fought back the bushes that threatened to overtake the path.

She trudged, the already dim light growing darker, until she reached the clearing. Waiting for her, like most mornings, was the young Croatan boy that she had befriended when she first arrived. He didn't speak a word of English but was always happy when Anna came to see him.

The fog of Roanoke island

The boy, who was no older than twelve, was startled by Anna at first. The air in the forest didn't move and her sudden appearance was unexpected. His startled look melted into a smile when she opened her arms to him for a hug. She talked to him and he answered with gestures and pictures drawn in the dirt. He was learning her language at the same time she was learning his.

Anna joined the boy on the flat rock next to the pond. He removed cloth bundle from his pack and handed it to her with a smile. She opened it to find a loaf of freshly baked bread, still warm from the fire.

"Is this for me?" Anna asked, gesturing to her body with the loaf.

The little boy nodded in agreement, the smile never leaving his face. Anna broke off a piece, the heat turning to steam as she took a bite. The wheat was coarse and nutty and the crust crunched in her teeth as she chewed. Even if she tried, she knew she would never be able to replicate it.

After the first bite Anna handed the loaf to the young boy who took his own bite. They sat on the flat rock, eating the warm bread and watching nature as it went by. She looked up in time to see the color of the sky had changed through a gap in the canopy.

She ducked behind a tree on the edge of the clearing and began to change her clothes. She wore her shift and stocking under her father's clothes. She unbound the bundle and slipped into the first of many layers that was her gown. She ignored the fancy gown her father bought for her, instead choosing to wear one of the few gowns she had left that her mother gave her. It angered her father that she didn't wear clothes that matched her status but then again, she didn't want to be here.

The sound of approaching men startled her as she was pinning her gown into place. She ducked down, holding her breath and hoping it wasn't someone from the colony looking for her. Anna spotted her young friend as he disappeared into the high branches of the nearest tree, just in time to see a group of men enter the clearing. They spoke in hushed tones and carried muskets. They examined the cloth bundle that still had scraps of bread as they talked amongst themselves.

Anna couldn't make out everything they were saying but the intent was clear. They were hunting her friend. The men threw the scraps of bread and the cloth it was wrapped in into the pond and continued up the path and away from the clearing. She hurriedly pinned the last pin into her gown before entering the clearing again. It took some coaxing but Anna managed to get the boy to come down from the tree.

His eyes were wide and his breath rattled in his throat. She hugged him, hoping that he understood that not everyone was scary. His shoulders stopped shaking under her embrace. She pointed east, through thick underbrush, and told him to go home in his native language. He didn't move at first but took off after Anna pushed him away.

She watched him as he disappeared into the brush before she returned to her house. Her steps were purposeful. She recognized the men from the clearing as part of the advance team for the colony. They scouted the area and made sure it was safe before the rest of the colonists arrived. Her father told her to stay away from them when she arrived from England. They were brutish men that spent their wages in the tavern on drink and women and she was right to avoid them at all costs.