We will freeze to death, thought Mercy. Why go to the trouble of carrying a hundred pairs of moccasins when they won’t make a fire?Her Indian knelt and, with his bare hands, scooped out a hole in a sn...
One of the Sheldon boys had frozen his toes. His Indian came over to look but shook his head. There was nothing to be done. Ebenezer Sheldon could limp to Canada or give up. Guess I’ll limp, said Eben...
Joanna Kellogg, one of Joseph’s sisters, was stumbling.For Joanna, the world was blurred. Her eyes didn’t focus the way other people’s did. Leaves on trees were green blots against a blue sky. She cou...
And then a creek, so fast-flowing that even in this wicked cold it had not frozen. The Indians stood in ice water up to their thighs, handing the small children across, but the adults had to wade. Wet...
Stop being picky! yelled Mandy. You’re down to twelve minutes and you still have to swipe your credit card!
She had gradually changed her name. Jane was too dull. Last year, she'd added a y, becoming Jayne, which had more personality.
Mercy had never liked thinking about Eliza marrying an Indian. But what was her own future now? Would she, would Sarah, would Ruth, end up marrying an Indian?The image of Ruth Catlin agreeing to obey...
In a civil war, he said gently, people forget that they are people. Next they forget anyone else is a person. They forget how to be kind. They learn to hurt. In our wars, they might execute you, but u...
I never heard of the person on this return address. Calvin Vinesett. What a name. He’s probably selling something, like all our other mail is. The expensive envelope is a sales trick.
How terrifying empty beds were. The neatness of the sheets and blankets was like the neatness of a mowed and trimmed graveyard.
Her parents kissed her on each side. Her mother took both her hands now and held them against her cheek, as if in prayer. We tried everything to get Hannah out. We took her on long vacations, we sent...
Fall in love with me, Gary! She thought. Please. Please sit here holding me and think there's nowhere on earth I'd rather be than here, and no girl I'd rather have in my lap than Beth Rose Chapman!
You know what is happening with Eben, don’t you?Will he marry Sarah? Mercy asked excitedly. We don’t know how it worked out. Tell us.Father Meriel will honor Sarah’s decision to accept Eben. I guess i...
They won’t let you see her, said Ruth flatly. Now tell us, Mr. Williams, why has ransom not come? Do people have short memories or no memory? Why do they not rescue us? I get so angry sometimes. thoug...
Remember how in Deerfield there was nobody to marry? Remember how Eliza married an Indian? Remember how Abigail even had to go and marry a French fur trader without teeth?Mercy had to laugh again. It...
Oh, Eben! breathed Mercy, thrilled and astonished. Guess what?The glare off the ice was bothering him, and as the temperature rose, the snow on the frozen river was turning to slush. His moccasins wer...
Munnonock, said Mercy’s Indian.Eben did not know the word or any of the syllables in it.Mercy frowned, trying to work it out. She shook her head at Tannhahorens.He pointed at her. Munnonock, he said a...
Listen to Sarah Hoyt! cried Ruth. Her long bony face was twisted with anger and hunger. She’s actually laughing. I despise her! It dishonors the dead to make friends with their murderers.Eben’s heart...
It’s me! Mercy Carter! Oh, Mr. Williams! Do you have news? She flung herself on top of him. Oh, his beautiful beard! The beard of a real father, not a pretend Indian father or a French church father....
They reached a river where the water was open, seething and churning over rocks.We’re going to cross that? thought Mercy. It’s too wide and deep. We’ll drown.Tannhahorens took off his tobacco necklace...