Mercy could not keep up the pace. Gradually the line passed her by, until she was walking with Eben Nims, and she must not fall farther behind than that, because the Indians behind Eben were the end o...
At the crunch of footsteps they looked up, and then they stopped talking. Ruth was dangerous, not because of her habit of throwing things, but because every word she spoke was upsetting. They had begu...
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...
When you were steadily dating a boy, as she was Reeve, and this was known to everybody, it freed you up to be friends with boys.
The most crippling part of my personality is that as much as I want to know something, I can't bear admitting I'm ignorant. It's as if I think I should have been born knowing and understanding all. As...
Sometimes Reeve couldn’t stand women. They were so practical.
Reeve loved that Janie would make the plans. She’d make a list, he’d follow it, that would be that.
No boy to swagger down the hall with his arm around her, boasting with his walk that he dated this girl.
More clumsily,he put his arm around her and tried to hug. They were definitely amateurs at showing affection.
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...
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.
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...
Every time he calls, I nag him to study. I hear that boys don’t like to be nagged. Me too, but it’s irresistible. You always want to take the boy and mold him into something better.
Brendan wanted to chain the guy to the bumper of a truck and drive down the thruway for a hundred miles.
Barbies are warm and tan and always the same, thought Janie, but real people are not always the same.
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...
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...