News of the World: Chapter 21 Summary & Analysis

Captain Kidd stays the night at an inn in Castroville before continuing on to San Antonio. He’s happy to see the Mexican women doing laundry in the river, and responds to their greetings in Spanish. A man in the street recognizes him and invites him to visit later. He drives by the large, old-fashioned houses until he reaches the main plaza, where he can stable the wagon and horses. His old print shop is there as well, and the next day he peers through the windows; it seems like it’s now a storage space.

That morning, Captain Kidd visits a young lawyer to discuss the “legal status of returned captives” and the Printing Bill, which has shut down southern printers since the end of the Civil War. The lawyer says he might be able to start a business in a few years, when the law is repealed; as for captives, they belong to their “parents or guardians.” After leaving the lawyer’s office, he rides to the ruined old mission. Somewhere inside are the records that prove his daughters’ ownership of their mother’s land. He will let Elizabeth, who likes long quests, figure it out.

At the post office, Captain Kidd finds a letter from Elizabeth, saying that she and Olympia will make the journey in two years, when they are more prepared. She asks if he has any money to help with the journey, but Captain Kidd knows his newspaper readings will not be possible here, where newspapers are distributed daily and telegraphs bring regular updates. It’s strange to think that just a few hours away, raiding and kidnapping is a serious threat. That evening the Captain buys many newspapers and tries to read, but he ends up drinking whisky in his hotel.

The next day Captain Kidd drives back to Castroville, telling himself he’s only visiting to help Anna and Wilhelm understand “what it was like for a child taken captive and then redeemed and then adopted by virtual strangers.” It’s dusk by the time he reaches the farm, and he sees Johanna trudging through the field, carrying several harnesses and a heavy bucket. He realizes they’ve sent her out into an unfamiliar landscape, with a load of equipment she can hardly carry, to feed the horses.

Captain Kidd stands up in the wagon and calls to Johanna, who turns to look at him in surprise. Calling his name, she runs over and offers food to the horse. The Captain realizes she is trying to be useful in order to “make herself welcome, wanted.” He’s furious to see welts across her arms, where her aunt and uncle have whipped her. Calmly, he tells her to drop the bucket and get into the wagon. Johanna vaults over the fence and jumps up beside him, crying and calling him “Grandfather” in Kiowa and English. The Captain puts his arm around her and says that if anyone objects to him taking her away, he will “shoot them full of ten-cent pieces.”