Chains

The British win a battle in Brooklyn, capturing or killing 1,000 Patriots. It then promptly starts to rain. Madam paces, and Isabel wishes the bees would come back to her brain so she doesn’t have to think about asking the British army for help. In the morning, it’s foggy—and when the fog lifts, the Patriots are gone. Washington spent all night ferrying 9,000 men across the river. Isabel quietly curses as she eats her supper, ignoring Becky’s chatter about the gruesomely injured men she saw earlier. Becky says she’d become a nurse, but she can’t stand the maggots that will be all over injuries in the morning. Isabel’s supper suddenly looks like maggots to her.

Becky says that this supposedly proves that God is siding with the Rebellion; He created the fog to help the Patriots. Isabel thinks that if God wanted to help, He would’ve destroyed the British fleet before it left England. But Becky suggests that perhaps turning the church bells into cannons will displease God, so maybe He’ll switch sides. If he does, Becky is heading for Jersey—she won’t let the redcoats carve her up. A week later, Isabel finally sees Curzon around. It’s a relief that he’s not dead.