Chains: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Mr. Robert takes Isabel and Ruth back to Miss Finch’s house so they can collect their shoes and blankets. Isabel can’t take anything else—not even Ruth’s baby doll made of bits of calico, or the bowl Poppa made her—since nothing else belongs to her. But she grabs a handful of seeds that Momma collected before she died. Who knows what they’ll grow into.

Several hours later, Mr. Robert reaches Newport. He leads Ruth and Isabel into Sullivan’s Tavern, which is filled with mostly country people and a few rich couples. Everyone is arguing about British soldiers, taxes, and war. Ruth covers her ears. She’s “simpleminded and prone to fits,” and loud places and excitement can bring on the fits. Mr. Robert tells the girls to stand in the corner and approaches the proprietor.

The proprietor’s wife, whom a patron calls Jenny, looks familiar to Isabel. Jenny frowns as her husband refuses to let Mr. Robert auction the girls on the tavern’s steps—that’s not considered proper here. Jenny tells Mr. Robert to talk quietly to people, or to put an ad in the paper. Jenny argues with Mr. Robert until her husband tells her to take the girls into the kitchen to get them some food. Mr. Robert only agrees when Jenny says she won’t charge him.

In the kitchen, Jenny serves Isabel and Ruth bowls of stew. She tells Isabel that it’s not worth it to run, and that she wishes she could help—it’s the least she could do for Dinah, their mother. Jenny explains that she was an indentured servant working on the same farm as Dinah; Dinah was very nice to her. Isabel quickly explains what’s happening and asks if Jenny could buy her. But Jenny refuses just as her husband enters and says Mr. Robert wants the girls.

Just outside the kitchen, Mr. Robert is standing next to a middle-aged woman in an expensive gown. She asks what’s wrong with Isabel and Ruth; there must be something wrong if they’re so cheap. Mr. Robert explains that he’s dealing with his aunt’s estate. Then, the woman’s husband walks up and asks if Mr. Robert supports the king or the rebellion. When Mr. Robert says he supports the king, the man introduces himself as Elihu Lockton and his wife as Anne. Mr. Robert offers to buy them a meal and discuss the sale, so Isabel and Ruth stand with their backs to the wall and watch them eat.

Mr. Lockton is tall and overweight. He’s a merchant, and he gripes about how much the uprising in Boston is costing him. Missus Lockton clearly hates the food, but Isabel can’t tell what kind of a mistress she’ll be. Finally, the men light their pipes, and Missus Lockton calls Ruth and Isabel forward. She inspects their bodies and asks Isabel what they can do. Mr. Lockton asks why his wife can’t just “procure another indentured girl” in New York, but Missus Lockton snaps that indentured servants just complain and steal. She then asks if Ruth is “simple.” Isabel says Ruth is “a good simple” and does what she’s told. Then, Missus Lockton says she wants the girls—Ruth could be “an amusement in the parlor” and Isabel can help Becky. She tells Isabel to call her Madam.

Mr. Robert names his price. Then, Jenny says that she’ll buy Isabel and Ruth. This is unheard of, but she offers to pay cash. Isabel prays to God that Jenny will be able to buy them—but Madam says the girls are a deal at twice Mr. Robert’s asking price. Jenny can’t top it, so she hurries for the kitchen. Lockton deems her behavior disturbing; this is why they need the King’s soldiers to step in. He pays for Isabel and Ruth and asks Mr. Robert to bring them to the ship. As Mr. Robert drops the bag of coins in his pocket, it sounds to Isabel like the sound dirt makes as it falls on a coffin.