Building Utopia Ch. 05

Roger stood and looked back at Margarita and the young man. "Where are the other two?"

"They took off running for the fort when they saw the bear Roger."

"Shit. Well, son why don't you go get us some help to carry this meat back while Margarita and I begin working on the bear."

By the time Margarita had the bear's abdomen open a large group from the fort was almost upon them. They stood in awe looking at the dead bear and the three deer. The Governor said, "You truly are a master hunter Governor. Somehow I think I believe you about your colony. Perhaps we need to talk again when you get back to the fort sir."

Governor Greenville tried to convince Roger to stay and hunt for Roanoke instead of returning to his colony. Of course Roger refused to do that. Finally Governor Greenville gave in and agreed to allow volunteers to accompany Roger back to Birmingham. The two Governors quickly came to an agreement that the colonists who accompanied Roger to Birmingham could take their personal possessions and a small amount of food and spices. Governor Grenville agreed the two men would make the offer and explain the plan to the colonists after the noon meal.

After a lunch where all present had everything they wanted to eat for a change the two leaders explained Roger's offer. Roger then spent over an hour answering questions from the assembled colonists. They gave the assembled people until the next morning to decide whether they wanted to stay or accompany Roger. The rest of the day Roger and Margarita wandered around the compound, visited with the colonists and answered questions about the trip and Birmingham.

The next morning Roger once again took off to hunt while the Governor held a meeting to see how many, if any, of his colonists would go with Roger and Margarita back to Birmingham. This time Roger did not take help from the colony. He and Margarita only killed and returned with two deer.

As soon as they returned with the meat Roger met with the Governor. While the women were preparing the meal the Governor talked to Roger. He said, "Governor almost all of my colonists have elected to accompany you. All the women are going except for one, a young girl. Her father insists on staying here and will not allow her to accompany you even though she is technically of the age of consent. All other women, even the single ones will accompany you. Seven of my men have elected to stay here with me. We will, of course, allow the owners to take their personal possessions but we will keep enough supplies to hopefully survive until rescue arrives. At that time we will discuss what, if anything, we will do about your colony in the interior. Do you know when you will leave sir?"

"I will leave tomorrow morning if those returning with me can be ready by then. It will be a long and arduous trek and the sooner we begin the better."

That evening after another large meal Roger walked away from the fire to relieve himself. When he returned he heard running steps behind him. He quickly turned to his left to confront his attacker. He was a little too slow. He felt a burning stinging pain in the right side of his back just above his waist. He almost collapsed from the pain. He pulled his pistol and fired twice into the man who was once again coming toward him with a knife in his hand. Roger could see the blood on the blade.

The attacking man was Seth. He stopped when the bullets hit him and slumped to the ground. Roger felt himself blacking out and he dropped to his knees then fell onto the ground. Margarita ran to him and pulled his shirt away from the wound.

Margarita looked up at the crowd. She saw the Governor and said, "I need water boiling now. I need soap and alcohol or whiskey. I need a needle and thread too. Quickly now please."

While the water was boiling Margarita placed a compress of the cleanest available cloth on Rogers wound. It did not appear to be too deep but it was bleeding a lot. His turn saved his life. The knife would have gone into his kidney if he hadn't moved. Finally after the water, some cloth and the needle and thread had boiled for several minutes Margarita began work.

She first washed the wound with soap and the sterile water then dried the wound. She poured some rum on the wound to sterilize it more then carefully sewed it up. After the wound was closed she placed a poultice of her special devising on it and covered it with a clean cloth then wrapped Roger's waist to hold the dressing in place.

The next morning Roger woke in pain. His wound throbbed. He was feverish to the touch near the wound. He groaned and Margarita was there immediately. She rolled him over and checked the wound then replaced the dressing. Roger carefully stood and moved to the table for breakfast. He could hardly move much less sit or stand.

While he was eating his meal the Governor and a young woman approached him. The woman hung back and almost hid behind the Governor. She looked down at the ground almost constantly, refusing to meet Roger's eyes. The Governor inquired about Roger's health then looked at the woman. He turned back to Roger and said, "Governor, Betsy and I have a favor to ask of you. She is Seth's daughter and as you know he refused to let her accompany you. Now that he is dead she has no one to care for her here and has asked if she can accompany you to your settlement in Birmingham."

Roger looked at the almost cowering young woman and smiled. He said, "Of course you may come with us Betsy. We would be pleased to have you. If you will gather your possessions we will find room for them and you when we leave."

Betsy smiled. She curtseyed to Roger and said, "Oh, Thank You Sir. I will be the most loyal of your servants in payment for this opportunity." She rapidly turned and ran off to gather her belongings.

Governor Grenville reached to shake Roger's hand and said, "I want to thank you also Governor. You have solved a problem for me by agreeing to take Betsy. I feared for her safety here for many reasons. Some of the worst of our settlers have agreed to stay. I feared only one woman here with no man to protect her would not be a good thing. I also feared the potential for strife should the men vie for her favors. She will be safer with you and I will, perhaps, have fewer problems with her gone."

It was six days before Roger felt he was well enough to travel. When the journey began he was surprised to see three two wheel carts loaded with heavier possessions. One of the carts had a crate with some hens, a rooster and some young chickens. There was also a milk cow, her calf and the three bullocks pulling the carts.

Roger's immediate thought was to make them leave the carts. Some of the route they would travel would be impassable or nearly so for the carts. There were no roads to Birmingham and what trails existed were narrow game trails. It would be difficult to find a way between the trees for the carts even considering how narrow they were. Finally after much discussion he agreed to take the carts with the understanding they would be left if they became too much of a burden. The small party moved out slowly. Roger estimated they only made about eight miles the first day. The next day was worse, maybe six miles. About mid morning the third day of travel Roger heard shouts coming from the rear of the small traveling group.

Roger moved toward the rear of the column as rapidly as he could. When he arrived he saw one of the men who had remained behind. He was a bloody mess. He was lying on the ground gasping. He said, "Injuns attacked us the day you left Governor. I think I'm the only one who got away. We need help please sir."

Roger quickly made his decision. He knew it was probably useless but he decided to take a small group back to Roanoke to see if they could help. He instructed the main body to move on toward Birmingham. He pulled Margarita aside and said, "I hate to leave you Margarita but I feel it is necessary. You have your pistol. Don't be afraid to use it if needs be. Stay alert. I'm not sure we can trust all our new friends. I shouldn't be more than three or four days."

When Roger and his group of twelve men arrived back at Roanoke they found many of the buildings torn down. There were six bodies lying around the fort. Roger could not find the Governor's body. They set about burying the dead then searched for anything they might want to take with them. By mid afternoon of the day they arrived they were once again ready to leave for Birmingham.

Late the evening after Roger and his party again left Roanoke a lone figure came staggering out of the woods. When he got to the fort he stood and looked around. He saw the fresh graves and walked over to them. He stood swaying on his feet for a moment of silent prayer. Slowly, so slowly the man sank down onto the ground beside a tree. Sometime in the night the Governor of Roanoke Colony found his peace.

The journey from Roanoke to Birmingham was long and arduous. Thankfully there were only three short attacks by Indians and they were easily beaten off. Twice Roger almost left the carts but he gave in to the requests of his new colonists and kept them. It was late September when they finally came into sight of the small settlement of Birmingham.

Roger slowly moved out of the woods into the clearing. He saw two women working in the garden. They stood and looked toward Roger and the arriving settlers. They began walking toward the new arrivals. After several steps one of the women broke into a run and slammed into Roger. Sunny wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her chest in a painfully tight hug.

Roger looked up and saw Bear Stalker approaching from wherever he had been standing watch over the ladies. Roger moved to his friend and clasped his forearm in greeting. Roger turned to his new colonists and said, "Welcome to your new home. This is Birmingham. You can set up a camp bear the stream and rest the remainder of the day. Tomorrow morning we will begin building your new homes."

Roger introduced Bear Stalker and the other women before he allowed his wives to lead him to their home. Roger spent the rest of the evening and night celebrating their return home with his wives and catching up on the summer's occurrences.