He sighed, the first overt sign of his tension. “We don’t need your people hunting us again.”

“My people? You aren’t one of the natives. Has Ananias been harassing your people too? That man is a fool.”

All the tension melted off his face as he laughed. “I knew you would be different.”

“Different?”

“Not like the others of your kind. My mother did not believe me.”

“Your mother?” Emme felt a vast sucking sensation under her feet. He talked like a mad man. A mad man with a mother who could be just as mad. What were the two of them doing by themselves in the New World? There had been no women in the previous expedition, especially not mothers.

The vanished Roanoak Colony was actually the second expedition to the site. After relations were established with the local natives, Raleigh left a small contingent behind to maintain his hold on the island as he sailed back to England for colonists. Emme would have known about this as well as the fact that none of the original detachment would have been women, especially ones old enough to have adult sons. I’d be a little freaked out to find a guy wandering in the forest where nobody was supposed to be.