Phantoms

gotten into the cab. Now he said, “One more thing. At your press conference, tell them the stories you told me this morning. About the disappearing Mayans. And three thousand Chinese infantrymen who vanished. And be sure to make any references you possibly can to mass disappearances that took place in the U.S.—even before there was a United States, even in previous geological eras. That’ll appeal to the American press. Local ties. That always helps. Didn’t the first British colony in America vanish without a trace?”
    “Yes. The Roanoke Island colony.”
    “Be sure to mention it.”
    “But I can’t say conclusively that the disappearance of the Roanoke colony is connected with the ancient enemy.”
    “Is there any chance whatsoever that it might’ve been?”
    Fascinated, as always, by this subject, Timothy was able, for the first time, to wrench his mind away from the suicidal behavior of the cabdriver. “When a British expedition, funded by Sir Walter Raleigh, returned to the Roanoke colony in March of 1590, they found everyone gone. One hundred and twenty people had vanished without a trace. Countless theories have been advanced regarding their fate. For example, the most popular theory holds that the people at Roanoke Island fell victim to the Croatoan Indians, who lived nearby. The only message left by the colonists, slashed into the bark of a tree. But the Croatoans professed to know nothing about the disappearance. And they were peaceful Indians. Not the least bit warlike. Indeed, they had initially helped the colonists settle in. Furthermore, there were no signs of violence at the settlement. No bodies were ever found. No bones. No graves. So you see, even the most widely accepted theory raises a greater number of questions than it answers.”
    The taxi swept around another curve, braked abruptly to avoid colliding with a truck.
    But now Timothy was only passingly aware of the driver’s daredevil conduct. He continued:
    “It occurred to me that the word the colonists had carved into that tree— Croatoan —might not have been intended to point an accusing finger. It might have meant that the Croatoans would know what had happened. I read the journals of several British explorers who later talked with the Croatoans about the colony’s disappearance, and there’s evidence the Indians did, indeed, have some idea of what had happened. Or thought they knew. But they were not taken seriously when they tried to explain to the white man. The Croatoans reported that, simultaneously with the disappearance of the colonists, there was a great depletion of game in the forests and fields in which the tribe hunted. Virtually all species of wildlife had abruptly dwindled drastically in numbers. A couple of the more perceptive explorers noted in their journals that the Indians regarded the subject with superstitious dread. They seemed to have a religious explanation for the disappearance. But unfortunately, the white men who talked with them about the missing colonists were not interested in Indian superstitions and did not pursue that avenue of enquiry.”
    “I gather you’ve researched Croatoan religious beliefs,” Burt Sandler said.
    “Yes,” Timothy said. “Not an easy subject, for the tribe has been extinct itself for many, many years. What I’ve found is that the Croatoans were spiritualists. They believed that the spirit endured and walked the earth even after the death of the body, and they believed there were ‘greater spirits’ that manifested themselves in the elements—wind, earth, fire, water, and so forth. Most important of all—as far as we’re concerned—they also believed in an evil spirit, a source of all evil, an equivalent to the Christians’ Satan. I forget the exact Indian word for it, but it translates roughly as He Who Can Be Anything Yet is Nothing . ”
    “My God,” Sandler said. “That’s not a bad description of the ancient enemy.”
    “Sometimes there are truths hidden in superstitions. The Croatoans believed that both the wildlife and the colonists had been taken away by He Who Can Be Anything Yet is Nothing. So… while I cannot say conclusively that the ancient enemy had something to do with the disappearance of the Roanoke Islanders, it seems to me sufficient reason to consider the possibility.”
    “Fantastic!” Sandler said. “Tell them all of that at the press conference in San Francisco. Just the way you’ve told me.”
    The taxi squealed to a