In Angus Brownfield's Guardian of the Lost Colony, the Talking Mice of his Pool of Tears and Scrivener's Tale have taken refuge at isolated Casa Abandolao, guarded by its feisty, eccentric mistress, Matilde. When Gavin MacDonald finds them, after searching a year, he wants only to bring them Talker extraordinaire Dorothy Mustt's deathbed benediction. Matilde assumes more sinister motives, and shoots him before he can.If Gavin can find them, so can whacko scientist Jason Ramback and his CIA sponsors. The mice, led by Dorothy's rough and ready brother, Brack, and the suave Joaquín, debate how they can make themselves less vulnerable. Throughout the Lost Colony the debate is joined, whether if knowing a handful of decent humans is enough to make Takers safe. Matilde, traumatized by her parents' premature death, slowly sheds her suspicions of the recuperating Gavin and joins forces with him to guard the mice. When an unmarked helicopter buzzes the hacienda, they get ready for a CIA invasion. Inexplicably, the CIA drops the project they hoped would produce miniature spies and assassins and cut Jason loose.In the end an armed Jason comes looking for Gavin, seeking revenge for thwarting his dreams. Will Matilde trust her Winchester or her maturing judgment? Can she decide in the split second she has to save Gavin's life? And will the isolationists among the Lost Colony win the debate and seek a world free of humans and their foibles?