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“I pick and choose my battles,” he said. “I’ll get this answer soon enough.”
I shook my head and walked toward the entrance of Poor Richard’s.
“Whendid they die?”
I took a breath. “A little over two weeks ago.”
“After the colony reappeared.”
There was no use denying it. “Yes.”
“And your father died too.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yes.”
“Was he frozen?”
After Ahone accepted Daddy as my sacrifice, I had been terrified that he would be frozen like the others, but it didn’t happen.
“Ellie.” David sounded concerned. “I’m sorry. It was insensitive of me to ask.”
“I don’t have time to be sentimental.” I squared my shoulders. “The answer is no, he wasn’t.”
“Did anyone else die?”
I stopped in front of the menu board and pointed. “Their pulled pork sandwiches are really good here.”
His mouth pressed together in a thin line as he looked from me to the board. After we ordered—David insisted on paying—we sat at an empty table while we waited for our food. The dining area was nearly full of tourists, discouraging him from asking me more questions.
“When did you move to the States?” I asked.
“When I started graduate school.”
“I’m guessing you like it here since you specialized in Native American studies. There can’t be much demand for that specialty in the United Kingdom.”
“You’re correct on both counts. It’s a good thing I prefer the sunshine and the heat to the cold, rainy weather in England.”
“What part of England are you from?”
“London.”
“You must have had a fascinating childhood.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t any more fascinating than growing up in Manteo.”
The cashier called our number and David grabbed our bag. I led him out the back and we walked along the boardwalk back to my apartment.
“Did anyone else die?” he asked when we were out of earshot of the tourists.
I was hoping he’d leave that one alone. I should have known better. “Yes. One other person.”
He waited.
“A man. He was the first. He was found underneath the statue of Queen Elizabeth in the Elizabethan Botanical Gardens. He was frozen too.”
“And what was his connection to you?”
My head jerked up. “Why do you assume there’s a connection?”
