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| Link | Quote | Stars | Tags | Author |
| d236b84 | 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 couldn't recognize people until they were within a dozen paces. When an Indian brave took Joanna's hand, she had not seen her mother die and did not know this was the killer. She was only ten, but her pack was nearly as large as the ones grown me.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 87eb2a3 | In a dark and twisted grove of spruce, a place Eben would have avoided in summer at high noon, the Indians stopped for the night. If he had ever seen a place where an evil spirit would dwell, this was it. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 579e036 | During the march, when Mercy was finding the Mohawk language such a challenge and a pleasure to learn, Ruth had said to Eben, "I know why the powwow's magic is successful. The children arrive ready." The ceremony took place at the edge of the St. Francis river, smaller than the St. Lawrence but still impressive. The spray of river against rock, of ice met smashing into shore, leaped up to meet the rain. Sacraments must occur in the presence.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 1d9479a | We will freeze to death, thought Mercy. Why go to the trouble of carrying a hundred pairs of moccasins when they won't make a fire? Her Indian knelt and, with his bare hands, scooped out a hole in a snowbank. She expected him to store his plunder in the cavity. He had to make a lot of hand motions before she understood that this was her shelter for the night. Not a house, nor a bed, nor even a stable. A hole in the snow. Mercy wanted to rai.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| ffbc7b3 | She had no choice but to go to him. She set Daniel down. Perhaps they would spare Daniel. Perhaps only she was to be burned. She forced herself to keep her chin up, her eyes steady and her steps even. How could she be afraid of going where her five-year-old brother had gone first? O Tommy, she thought, rest in the Lord. Perhaps you are with Mother now. Perhaps I will see you in a moment. She did not want to die. Her footsteps crunched on th.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 6a7ea58 | If only she had never stolen Sarah-Charlotte's milk. None of this would have happened. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 46be07f | All his life Reeve had reacted to good news and bad by wanting to throw things. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 2c7f7f3 | Brian and Lizzie were both really smart. Really quick. Plain basic types like Janie and Reeve could always get cornered. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| e10ba75 | There were no Middle Ages in America, dumb-o," said his sister. "White people hadn't gotten here yet. Only Europe had Middle Ages." | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 8736a56 | Barbies are warm and tan and always the same, thought Janie, but real people are not always the same. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 4c294e7 | 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 clothing froze to the body. In this wind, at this temperature, that could spell death. Should you fall in and get entirely wet, could you even get back on your feet in the force of that current? Would not your heart stop and your lungs fill? T.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| bef7e41 | I will be brave, she told herself. I will stay strong. she said to Him. She had never needed Him more, but in this cold white wilderness, she could not feel His presence. The snowball fights ended. The sledding stopped. The march went on. Nobody could help Mercy. Everybody had their own trembling legs and hearts to deal with. Tannhahorens appeared by her side. He had covered his ears and shaved head with a great scarlet muff of a hat. In h.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| ea28d63 | From the river they walked back to the town, and the boy was taken into the fire circle outside the powwow's longhouse. Here he was placed on the powwow's sacred albino furs. A dozen men, those who were now his relatives, sat in a circle around him. The powwow lit a sacred pipe and passed it, and for the first time in his life, the boy smoked. Don't cough, Mercy prayed for him. Don't choke. Afterward she found out they diluted the tobacco w.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 2024b41 | You know what is happening with Eben, don't you?" "Will he marry Sarah?" Mercy asked excitedly. "We don't know how it worked out. Tell us." "Father Meriel will honor Sarah's decision to accept Eben. I guess it's going to be quite an event. The French family does not accept Sarah's decision, and they're going ahead with their wedding plans. Eben's Indian family are going ahead with wedding plans. There's going to be one bride, two grooms a.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| f8a4492 | Munnonock," said Mercy's Indian. Eben did not know the word or any of the syllables in it. Mercy frowned, trying to work it out. She shook her head at Tannhahorens. He pointed at her. "Munnonock," he said again. His voice lingered on the 's and n's humming like a bee, and then, hand on his chest, he repeated his name, "Tannhahorens," and pointed at Mercy. "Munnonock." Mercy had been given an Indian name. Even shivered. Names had power. It .. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 83be7de | I don't understand adoptions myself. I wouldn't want to be a father to somebody else's son. But the French and the Indians have run out of children. They love to pretend we're their children." They aren't pretending, thought Mercy. Annisquam's mother and father were not pretending. Annisquam is their son. "Do you know this boy Annisquam?" asked Joanna. "Where is he from?" Ebenezer shook his head. "Nobody will say and he isn't allowed to tal.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 2f75b73 | They stayed in St. Francis for several days. Mercy was careful not to be around Ebenezer Sheldon again, and careful not to examine the reasons why. Minutes before the Kahnawake Indians stepped into their canoes to paddle home, Mercy spotted the adopted boy walking alone. She darted between buildings to catch his arm. "Forgive me," she said in English. The language felt awkward and slippery, as though she might say the wrong thing. "I know .. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 77b6371 | 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 Ebenezer, grinning." | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 37f5b31 | Ruth stormed away. She hated the Indians and prayed constantly not to hate her fellow captives as well. They were becoming Indian lovers. Only the stupefied Eliza had avoided it--and that was because she loved Indians so much she had married one. Ruth could not stand the sight of her own Indian, whose Mohawk name Mercy said meant "Otter." Ruth could not bear to think that Otter owned her, but the other captives easily referred to their Indi.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| f81b611 | Listen to Sarah Hoyt!" cried Ruth. Her long bony face was twisted with anger and hunger. "She's actually laughing. I despise her! It dishonors the dead to make friends with their murderers." Eben's heart broke for Ruth. Was that how she believed her mother had behaved? Dishonoring her dead? Ruth stormed over the snow to holler at Sarah, and Eben hoped Sarah would answer gently. But Ruth was caught by her Indian, who did not want the childre.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 0bf2cde | Ruth lay down and inched forward until she could look over the edge of the cliff to see what had happened. The force of Otter's fall had brought snow and rock down upon him. One hand stuck out, and part of his face. What could Jesus have been thinking when he said that? This enemy was the murderer and slaughterer of innocent women and children. Ruth was not going to love him, she would never do anything good unto him, and certainly she was .. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| d0d55cd | They marched. "Ask your Indian his name," Mercy said softly to Eben. "They like that." So Eben patted his chest and said, "Eben." Then he touched his Indian's arm and said, "Who are you?" "Thorakwaneken." Eben said it over and over until Thorakwaneken nodded and Eben supposed he had the pronunciation right. Mercy pointed to a squirrel sitting on a branch. "Thorakwaneken," she said, "what is that?" " repeated Mercy, and Eben echoed her. .. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 6a9b415 | Somebody was tapping Mercy in the ribs. It couldn't be Tommy, who pounced, or Sam, who jabbed. It wasn't John, who kissed, or Benny, who snuggled. Whichever brother it was had wet the bed in the night, and wet Mercy with him, and so far it was still warm, but the moment she separated from that sleeping brother, it would be cold and awful. But the tapping would not stop, and Mercy woke to see a deerskin legging with a painted running deer. ".. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 723f397 | Mercy's only hope for friendship was Nistenha's cousin's daughter, Snow Walker, who was a frequent visitor and pleasant enough. But Indians were less likely to talk for the sake of talk and Snow Walker hardly talked at all. Snow Walker for a friend would be like a fence post for a friend. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 35fca7b | Eben would rather have had that knife pierce his chest and kill him than live to acquire an Indian vocabulary, but it was something to do and it kept Mercy cheerful. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| d611d6e | By summer, Kahnawake children had stopped wearing clothing. Mercy could not get over the sight of hundreds of naked children playing tag, or hide-and-seek, or competing in footraces. The boys--naked!--went into the woods to shoot squirrels and rabbits and partridge. They used bow and arrow, since their fathers did not like them using guns yet. Even the six- and seven-year-olds had excellent aim. Joseph didn't go entirely bare, being a littl.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| eb937df | Mercy was outdoors more than she had ever been. She had thought that after the horrifying journey of ice and snow, she would never want the outdoors again. But spring and summer were joy. "You're not joyful because you love the outdoors," said Ruth. "It's because you don't have to be afraid of the Indians anymore. Anything they could do, they've already done." Ruth was in a terrible mood because ransom had never arrived. Joanna said Ruth w.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 82b33d2 | My theory," said Eben, "is that being a captive is an honor for the strong and the uncomplaining." Sarah and Mercy considered this. "Then why is Ruth alive? She complains all day long," said Sarah. "But she isn't sobbing," Mercy pointed out, "and she isn't actually complaining. She's calling them names. She attacked her own Indian this afternoon, did you see? She was going to stab him with his own knife." They giggled. It was scary to watch.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| e4ab408 | My theory," said Eben, "is that being a captive is an honor for the strong and the uncomplaining." Sarah and Mercy considered this. "Then why is Ruth alive? She complains all day long," said Sarah. "But she isn't sobbing," Mercy pointed out, "and she isn't actually complaining. She's calling them names. She attacked her own Indian this afternoon, did you see? She was going to stab him with his own knife." They giggled. It was scary to watch.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| cd4451b | By the time Mercy had sorted this out, her three brothers were gone. She panicked. "Sam!" she screamed. "John! Benny!" She ran from group to group, darting behind sledges, racing among the dogs, circling the fires. "Sam! John!" What was the matter with her? How could she have stayed separate from them? Why had she not kicked Tannhahorens in the shins, as Ruth would have, and marched with her brothers no matter what he said? Ruth was right, .. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 0739c1b | 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 an Indian as her lawfully wedded husband made Mercy laugh. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| f018c38 | Lord, it's only been six months since the last time I was a total jerk, thought Reeve. Am I going to be a total jerk again? | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 1cf7cd2 | I've had so much coffee I'm on the ceiling. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| de60aab | The letter, crumpled in her purse, felt as large as any Rocky Mountain. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| fcb5f6f | He shrugged and sipped his root beer. It came in a bottle. He liked holding a bottle to his lips much more than a can. He was exhausted from worrying about everybody. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 5301365 | Last time she had been here, the room had been pastel, romantic and soft. Now it was icily white. It was urban, out of a slick magazine, as if some cold, successful woman lived here with two possessions and an empty refrigerator. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 194855b | My theory," said Eben, "is that being a captive is an honor for the strong and the uncomplaining." Sarah and Mercy considered this. "Then why is Ruth alive? She complains all day long," said Sarah. "But she isn't sobbing," Mercy pointed out, "and she isn't actually complaining. She's calling them names. She attacked her own Indian this afternoon, did you see? She was going to stab him with his own knife." They giggled. It was scary to watch.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 63162f8 | 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 begun to see that part of survival was staying calm, and Ruth could not be calm. Even the way she sat down next to them, flouncing her skirt and whipping her cloak, was angry. Nobody asked what she was angry about now. She probably felt they should.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 720aaf3 | Turnpikes at night were like girl talk: not interesting. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| af6b43e | It's me! Mercy Carter! Oh, Mr. Williams! Do you have news?" She flung herself on top of him. Oh, his beautiful beard! The beard of a real father, not a pretend Indian father or a French church father. "My brothers," she begged. "John and Sam and Benny. Have you seen them? Have you heard anything about them? Do you know what happened to the little ones? Daniel? Have you found Daniel?" Mercy had forgotten that she had taken off her tunic to g.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 96bc0c6 | The Indians, it seemed, had paused here on their journey south from Canada to go hunting before the battle. Under the snow were stored the carcasses of twenty moose. Eben had to count them himself before he could believe it, and even then, he could not believe it. Eben was no hunter. If he'd gotten one moose, it would have been pure luck. But for this war party to have killed dragged every huge carcass here so there would be feasting on .. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| 34a18c3 | And Ruth was the last person to whom a sensible Indian would hand a weapon. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| a055d04 | But am I lost? And am I Mercy Carter? she had promised Uncle Nathaniel. I will remember my family, my God and my home. I have not broken my promise. I remember my family with love. I honor my God in every way...and in every language. And my home-- Is it here? It seemed to Mercy that she needed more time--weeks, months, even years--to know the answer to that question. She had been thinking about it since May of 1704, and yet she did not kno.. | Caroline B. Cooney | ||
| c55a4b8 | The girl who had been Mercy Carter stood for a long time watching the canoes disappear down the St. Lawrence. She had waved after Daniel, had been too crushed to wave after Sarah and Eben, and never thought of waving after Deacon Sheldon. Ransom, she thought. I didn't take it. Nistenha removed the hat, folded it and touched the heavy gold braids. "Daughter?" It seemed to the girl that sky and wind and river held their peace and waited to he.. | Caroline B. Cooney |