News of the World: Chapter 18 Summary & Analysis

As he rides south into the hill country, Captain Kidd is intensely conscious of the possibility of raids. He rides the horse, thinking that if raiders come he will drag Johanna onto the saddle and make a run for it. He listens carefully for any noise of a raiding party. Johanna is also alert, wearing her uncomfortable shoes and holding the shotgun. But neither one hears anything as they pass by abandoned farms, some of which have been burned down.

The valley they drive through is beautiful, populated with wildflowers and new grass for the horses to eat. When they make camp, a ringtail cat sits by the fire and surveys them, delighting Johanna with its enormous ears. They have made camp in a destroyed cabin, where broken cups and a doll’s headless body lie eerily on the floor. Captain Kidd feels he can envision the former owners’ exact habits and desires, which must have been similar to those of his own family in Georgia. These people had probably stewarded the same land for generations, but had now left forever.

One night, they reach a clear spring and make camp at a springhouse (a structure build to store milk and other perishables at cool temperatures). Captain Kidd unharnesses the horses and sits with his back to the spring while Johanna bathes. At night, while they sit in the springhouse before bed, they see a young man drop soundlessly from an oak tree into the spring. He’s blond, but his hair is styled in the manner of the Kiowa. Captain Kidd holds his weapon, wondering if Johanna will call out to the young man and his comrades, who must be nearby. This is her chance to return to her familiar life. But Johanna just puts her hand on his arm and shakes her head as three more men drop into the spring and swim away.

As Captain Kidd and Johanna get closer to Castroville, where her relatives live, they reach Fredericksburg, an almost entirely German-speaking town. The Captain books two rooms in a hotel, where Johanna causes a mild sensation, since people have heard rumors about both her captivity and “rescue.” Townspeople give the Captain unsolicited advice on managing her “strange” behavior. They comment that all captives dislike white people, probably because they had “partaken of some secret potion” among the Native Americans.

Captain Kidd decides to do a reading, mainly so Johanna can learn to hold his can and collect dimes. First, they have a traditional German supper, during which Johanna carefully uses her napkin and fork to eat. But when she slurps a noodle so hard it hits her nose, both she and the Captain burst out laughing. He shows her how to tell the time until the reading on his watch.

At the town church, Captain Kidd shows Johanna how to collect money for the reading. She takes to the role instantly, becoming a firm gatekeeper and even recalling a few words of her long-unused German. She laughs with the crowd, even though she doesn’t understand what’s happening.

That night, Captain Kidd puts Johanna to sleep in her own room—a milestone for her. As he tiptoes out, he reflects that Johanna is “being filed down and her sharp edges ground away.” He tries to read the newspapers in preparation for future readings, but he can’t concentrate so he cleans his gun and makes a shopping list of supplies.