After awhile Nampeyo passed the flute to Robert. He tried to play it, but of course his efforts sounded nothing at all like her own. She laughed indulgently and took the flute back. Then she took his hand and let him toward another clearing.

In this clearing was a tent made of animal skins, beside which stood an older man and woman. They both looked similar to Nampeyo and were dressed similarly to her. They looked at Robert warily at first, but Nampeyo spoke enthusiastically in her language and motioned toward him, and they soon relaxed and smiled.

Robert ate a meal with them, and slept that night in the tent with them. The next morning Nampeyo looked surprised and delighted to see that he was still there.

"Robert Dudley!" she exclaimed with a big smile.

Robert laughed indulgently. "Just Robert is fine. Or Robin, if you prefer."

"Robin?"

"I was named for my uncle, and the Queen has always called him Robin."

"Queen?"

"Queen Elizabeth of England."

"England?"

"My country. Where I came from." He made hand motions to simulate a ship sailing on the ocean. Nampeyo obviously didn't really understand, but she smiled politely anyway.

Robert stayed with Nampeyo and her family for several weeks. He taught her a little bit of English, and learned a bit of her language as well, mostly the names of plants, animals, and things related to nature and the environment. He was astounded at the amount of respect his new friend and her family had for all living things, even the tiniest and seemingly most insignificant. It was an entirely different way of looking at the world than the one he had been taught his entire life. Whereas he had always been led to believe that mankind was separate from, and superior to, all other life forms on earth, Nampeyo and her family seemed to believe that humanity was one with the rest of the world, that humans were merely one link in a much larger interdependent web.

Robert and Nampeyo eventually came to understand one another well enough that he was able to impress upon her the urgency of returning to the settlement. To his amazement, she took his hand and led him directly to them. As soon as he turned to thank her, she was gone, but then he looked again and saw her smiling and waving to him from behind a bush.

Robert learned that Ananias Dare's daughter had been born August eighteenth and named Virginia after the colony, which had in turn been named for Queen Elizabeth, who had always been known as the Virgin Queen as she had never been married. Robert held the baby and looked down into her tiny face and wondered what it would be like to be a father. He was thrilled for Ananias and Elenora, but meeting their newborn had awakened yearnings within him that he had never felt before. Nampeyo came to his mind and he suddenly missed her very much.

She came back to visit several more times before the crew of The Lion was forced to return to England for supplies. Ananias Dare and his family and most of the settlers would stay behind, as they considered Roanoke to be their permanent home. On Nampeyo's final visit, she brought a beautiful necklace made of precious stones. Robert gasped when he saw it.

"It's beautiful, Nampeyo, but I can't accept it," he said, handing it back to her.

She was crestfallen. "Robin no like?"

"I love it, Nampeyo. It's beautiful. But I can't take it from you. It's far too valuable."

"Valuable?" She was totally bewildered.

"This necklace could feed your family for six months, Nampeyo. It's worth a lot of money."

"Money?" Nampeyo frowned. Robert realized that she truly didn't understand and was filled with compassion for not only Nampeyo, but for all her people.

"At least let me pay you something for it," he said, making the appropriate hand motions. Nampeyo shook her head emphatically. "No pay. Nampeyo give. Robin keep."

"Thank you so very much, Nampeyo. I promise to always treasure it." He held her face between his hands and gently kissed her forehead.

"Good-bye, Robin. Great Spirit see you safely home."

"Great Spirit?"

Nampeyo pointed upwards. "Great Spirit. See all. Know all."

Robert understood. He laughed softly. "No, no, Nampeyo. Not the Great Spirit. God."

"God." It had never occurred to her that He might have another name other than the one she had always known Him as.

On the long voyage home he couldn't get her out of his mind. Lightly he fingered the necklace and thought about how willingly she had parted with an object of such great material value, as if totally unaware that there was even such a thing as material value. He hoped that he would be able to find a hiding place that would be secure enough to keep it when he got home. He thought of what she had said about the Great Spirit, and about her immortal soul, and he felt profoundly sad. More so than he had ever felt before in his entire life.

He knew that he would have to return.

Jane eagerly awaited the return of her elder son from his long voyage. She was very curious about the New World and wanted to hear all about Robert's adventures. When he finally arrived, she ran to him and embraced him as if she would never let go. Then she stood back to get a good look at him. Although he had been gone only a few short months, she saw that he had definitely changed. He looked...older, somehow. Or perhaps simply more mature.

She listened as he described the work of helping to set up the new settlement, smiled as he told her of Ananias Dare's new daughter. Then he grew more serious.

"There are native people already living in the New World, Mother," he told her. "Strange red-skinned men who dwell in tents, go almost naked, worship gods carved from wood, and engage in strange dancing and chanting rituals. They are highly skilled hunters, fishermen, and farmers, but in other ways their minds are as innocent as those of children. They know nothing at all of God and the truths of His word. We must do all that we can to rescue their souls, Mother. Unless we teach them the truth, there is no hope for them."

Jane reflected that, although Robert was the spitting image of Guilford, she had always considered him to be of all her children the one who was most like herself at heart. His words had just confirmed that for her.