Kay would not stop talking about Roanoke once she realised that we were going to be close enough to take a side trip there. In the run up to our vacation I became bemused by my daughter’s obsession with the story of the Lost Colony. She poured over books and internet sites, loading as much content as she could onto her laptop for the trip. I could hardly complain; sometimes it had been hard to get her to crack a book at all. Even so, her interest was bordering obsession and I found that odd. Sure it is an interesting story. The complete disappearance of all the colonists with just one gnomic clue – CROATOAN carved on a fence post from the fort is a unique mystery, but there were too many unknowns for me to be as drawn in by it as she was, at least on paper.

That all changed when I stood there and took the place in. I do not like to admit that there was something dead, almost hostile about the place. I don’t believe that it was my imagination; not after what happened during our second night on the island…