Dangerous Dreams: A Novel Read Online Free Page A

until the soldiers return.”
    Emily sat down beside the fire, pulled a few chunks of hardtack from her tote bag. “Here, Father. We haven’t much left, but with fortune, we’ll soon have fresh fish and meat to eat. So why not celebrate our first night in the New World with a feast of foul-smelling hardtack? Come, Master Howe . . . both of you join us.” She smiled as she handed a piece to each man. “Father, did you bring any beer?”
    “Here.” Young George sat down beside Emily, handed her a goatskin of warm beer, which she promptly took a swig of and passed back.
    “Quite satisfying. Thank you, George.”
    George took a long pull, passed it to his father, who, with Thomas Colman, had seated himself beside them. The elder George Howe took the beer, passed a canteen of water to Colman. “Thomas, you’d best have some of this, too. And pass it around, if you will. We’d do well to acquire a strong taste for it, for the beer will soon be gone.”
    Emily pushed herself back another five feet from the fire, wiped a wide bead of sweat from her brow with her sleeve. She slid her hand into her apron pocket, removed a black locket and held it to her cheek, then stared at the flickering tongues of fire, let her senses pull her mind inward to thoughts of her mother. Yes, Mother, we’re finally here, after three long months. We’re here . . . but
here
isn’t where it’s supposed to be. ’Tis where two
previous
expeditions were, where murder was done, where the Savages hate us more than death itself, where we can’t survive. How do I know? Because Manteo, the Savage who befriended me on the ship told me. He’s from an island near here and was taken to England by an earlierexpedition and educated. Yes, I
am
afraid . . . but I won’t show it. I shall be brave, face what comes . . . as you would. I miss you so . . . young brother John, as well. I long for the day you join us, pray we’re alive when you do. She squeezed her locket, saw her mother’s gentle, smiling face in the blue and yellow flames. Oh, forgot to tell you: my good friend Elyoner, the governor’s daughter, will have her baby soon; and, though it’s against custom for an unwed woman to be present, I’m to be there and help. She’s four years older than I, but we’ve grown quite close . . . and she’s told me—
    “Emily, did you hear me?” Young George, who’d also pushed back from the fire, waved his hand up and down in front of her face.
    Emily blinked. “George . . . no . . . I’m sorry, I did not . . . was thinking of my mother and brother . . . how far away.”
    George lowered his gaze to the ground. “
My
mother’s been gone nearly three years . . . but I still miss her as if she’d died yesterday.” He snorted. “You know, Emily, I’ve never mentioned that to anyone . . . until now . . . to you.”
    She touched his cheek. “Forgive me, George, I’ve worsened your pain.”
    “No, Em. ’Tis
always
with me.” He closed his eyes, smiled as if savoring the soft warmth of her touch.
    “Well, I’m still sorry, for I know how you feel.” Her eyes saddened. “We lost my first brother to the Bloody Flux two years ago . . . twelve, he was.”
    He looked up at her, his slight smile still on his face. “Truly, we’re having difficulty finding something un-painful to—”
    “Good evening, Mistress Colman.” Hugh Tayler sat his lean but solid frame down on the other side of Emily. He had curly, dark, shoulder-length hair that framed a clean-shaven face with hawkish features, and the firelight lent a sparkle to his dark brown eyes as he smiled a deep smile at Emily.
    “Good evening, Master Tayler. Do you know my friend, George Howe?”
    “Why, yes. We met on the ship.” He nodded at George, who gave a slight nod in reply, then promptly returned his gaze to the ground, started drawing in the dirt with his finger.
    Emily said, “Master Tayler, do you always make such a sudden entrance?”
    Her directness unbalanced him.