Follow the River

The next morning, Mary is freezing cold and feels like she is near death. She slowly gets up and stretches her frozen limbs. Her only choice is to climb the nearly 100-foot cliff face. She sets out. It is extremely hard climbing, and she goes slowly. At one point, after slipping back nearly 30 feet, she contemplates jumping, but she thinks of Will and getting home and presses on. Eventually, she reaches what she thinks is the top of the cliff. However, she realizes that she has simply reached the top of a pinnacle separated from the rest of the cliff face. She will have to climb across a “saddle” or connecting bridge and then climb another 200 feet up. There is nothing to eat. She continues climbing three or four feet at a time. Late in the afternoon, she reaches the top of the cliff. She crawls forward, exhausted, and sees where they camped the first night out. When she looks over the ledge, she sees smoke coming from the Harmons’ camp hut. She decides to head there while she still has daylight.

Adam Harmon and his sons, Hank and Adam Junior, are bringing in what’s left of the corn while keeping an eye out for Indigenous American raiders who have been all over the territory in recent weeks. The day before, Adam Junior had abandoned a hunting camp in such haste that he left behind a kettle full of stew and a pack mare. They are about to pack it in for the night when they hear something. They prepare to fire.

Mary calls out to Adam. She is too weak to stand. Adam Junior, startled, fires at her, but Adam pushes the barrel away so that it misses. He realizes that it’s Mary. He picks up her frail body and brings her into the house. Adam and his sons are crying.

Adam Harmon sends Adam Junior out to slaughter a calf to make beef tea for Mary. He tends to Mary’s wounds. They wonder where she has been. Hank thinks that she cannot have gone very far because women quickly get lost. The next morning, Mary wakes up and asks where her husband and brother are. Adam tells her that they are fine and that she needs to eat and rest. Later, he tells her that they had gone to see the Cherokees to see if they could negotiate for her freedom. She tells the men that she has walked close to 1,000 miles and that she followed the O-y-o River. They are incredulous. She also tells them about Ghetel, including how Ghetel tried to eat her and how they had traveled together. She begs Adam to go look for Ghetel. They talk about how General Washington survived the battle at Fort Duquesne.

The next morning, Mary assures them that she is well enough to ride to Draper’s Meadows. There is no one there, its inhabitants having likely left for fear of a raid, and so they continue to Dunkard’s Fort. They cross to the fort on a ferry, Ingles’s Ferry, that Will had built across the New River. They arrive that evening. Everyone is happy to see her, but Johnny and Will are not there.

Mary begs Adam once again to go search for Ghetel. As he rides out to look for her, Will, Johnny, and Gander Jack approach the fort. Will and Mary are reunited. He begs for her forgiveness for not saving her during the massacre.

Adam assumes that Ghetel is dead but decides to look for his lost mare and cooking pot. While riding in the woods, he hears a metallic sound. Then, he hears someone say “Hallooooo!” and sees Ghetel riding on his mare.

Will notices that Mary’s red hair has turned white. Johnny is still worried about Bettie. As they talk, Adam walks in with Ghetel. Ghetel and Mary embrace. That night, Will lies next to Mary in bed and thinks about how he is afraid of her. Her body is gaunt, and the trek has changed her. He also feels ashamed that he is not as strong as her.

Mary has a premonition that Dunkard’s Fort is going to be attacked. She asks Will to take her to Vass’s Fort to the east. Ghetel is going to be taken back to Pennsylvania by the German Dunkards, who tell Mary that her name is actually Gretel Stumf. Mary says goodbye to everyone at the fort. She and Gretel say goodbye, which is particularly emotional for both of them.

Meanwhile, Captain Wildcat is staking out the creek valley near Vass’s Fort. He has had word that Colonel Washington and his officers will be traveling that way and plans to attack them. While he waits, he thinks about Mary and her sons, the youngest of whom died. He gets impatient waiting for Washington and goes to climb a ridge to check if the men haven’t already reached the fort another way. He orders his men not to fire while he is gone. While he is climbing the ridge, Washington and his men travel safely through the river valley and reach the fort.

At Vass’s Fort, Colonel Washington talks to Mary and learns everything she can tell him about the territory she traveled through.

Some days later, Mary has a feeling that Vass’s Fort is going to be attacked, and she asks Will to take her across the Blue Ridge to somewhere safer. They leave. That afternoon, Vass’s Fort is attacked, and the residents are killed, including Will’s brothers.

Once across the Blue Ridge, Will asks Mary what happened to the baby. She tells him that she left it with a Shawnee woman and that it is better not to know its name. He tells her that he is ashamed of leaving her during the massacre, but she says it was smart of him to do so. They talk about starting a new family. She says that she loves him. They smile at each other and ride away.

Thirteen years later, in October 1768, Will rides through the New River Valley with Bill Baker, a white man who spent many years as a Shawnee captive and spoke the language, and a young teenager dressed in Shawnee clothes. They ride up to the house. Will announces their arrival to Mary. They are greeted at the door by three young girls between the ages of four and eight and Bettie, whose ransom was paid seven years prior. Mary notices that the teenager “carries himself like Wildcat” (396). She begins to cry. The boy calls her “my mother” in Shawnee. They embrace, and Mary welcomes her son, Tommy, home.