Best Quotes from Into The Wilderness by Sara Donati with Page Numbers

"This was a wilderness of deep and bountiful silence, magnificent beyond all imagining."

"She saw now that she had been wrong."

"That was a woman’s lot. Then she remembered that this was not England, and that she might ask for—and do—things considered bold at home."

"But I cannot force them."

"Would you be more comfortable in the sleigh?"

"Never mind if you’re going to make excuses for your brother, miss. Don’t bother yourself."

"No one has ever died of good manners, either, Julian."

"I have given Hawkeye and his son permission to hunt on my land, in perpetuity. In season, of course."

"It makes little difference to me whether or not you are married, Mr. Bonner."

"What do you desire?"

"I can certainly manage this, she said to herself firmly."

"He done pretty well by me and mine, miss. But there’s others who ain’t as satisfied."

"You a Quaker, like your mama was?"

"It seems everyone here goes by their first name."

"Surely the parents want their children to learn to read and write."

"I will approach each of the slave owners, then, and ask for permission."

"In my school, any child is welcome."

"There seems to be some confusion. How is it that Dr. Todd and Mr. Bonner haven’t heard that I will be teaching school?"

"How do you know that?" she demanded. "How can you know that? How can you find anything fair or good in slavery?"

"Then I will offer to teach them individually. In their homes."

Instead, he acknowledged, she was a woman of considerable strength of character, and admirable goals for herself rather than for others.

She had wanted to hear what he had to say; she herself had things to say that surprised him.

I won’t keep your books, and I have a home of my own.

I can cut the logs and lay the foundation and the chimney.

That’s a strong-willed woman, Nathaniel, and some men would run in the other direction.

You best keep your wits about you, or Todd will beat you to it.

She won’t let herself be auctioned off like that.

Your ma was strong-willed like her… You won’t be sorry for it, in the long run.

If she brings the land along with her, he will.

Well, look at her menfolk. If those are the only husbands she’s ever seen at their work, who could blame her?

Elizabeth awoke on Christmas Eve morning refreshed and with her resolve restored.

Paradise ain’t going no place, before you have some breakfast.

The rhythmic thump of the loom made a nice counterpoint to the steady hiss of the fire in the hearth.

I suppose snow is nothing new and I suppose it’s Christmas Eve.

I was hoping to get together a list of all the children who are of school age.

I plan to start a school as soon as space can be made ready.

Blessed are those wise in the ways of books, for theirs is the kingdom of righteousness and fair play.

I wouldn’t have thought it of you, that you give up so easy.

They thought that a princess was coming... Dressed in silks and satins, on the lookout for a rich husband.

I suppose I should be going... If you are willing, we could speak this evening about the schoolhouse.

I don’t foresee that in the near future, but when that day comes, then I hope that my brother will be of assistance to me.

If you really wanted to show your concern for me and protect me from Julian’s excesses, you would sign that deed today, and trust me to marry or not according to my own best interests.

A married woman cannot possess land.

You cannot build your future on your hopes for your brother. You need someone else to depend on.

If I die and all my property goes to your brother, he will gamble it into nothing in a year.

I came here to be free of the restrictions I lived under in England. If there is no freedom for me here, there is no reason to stay.

What I want is independence. It is 'the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will never secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.'

I will build you a school.

I want to know why you’re so angry at my father, what he’s done to you.

I want … I want … I intend to start.

"We must learn to live more closely together, we who are left behind."

"Common sense is enough of a law, for those who don’t let greed rule them."

"We are grateful for your friendship and your generosity. But we are a people who must fend for ourselves."

"It seems that the only way we can do that, and live as we must live, is if we own the land we live on, as the whites do."

"I ask him as I would ask a brother who has hunted and fought with me for thirty years."

"There is no peace in the Northwest Territory."

"The legislature has been up to tricks... As if they could keep track of the likes of us in the forest."

"I had every gold and silver coin to my name in the canoe, on my way to the auction where I bought the second patent, this very land."

"While I was telling this story, Elizabeth watched Nathaniel... distracted and that his attention wandered between herself and his adoptive grandfather."

"To tell Elizabeth that Nathaniel had married an Indian... this would be equal to telling her that he was unsuitable as even a casual acquaintance."

"The game which interests me is a more civilized one."

"Young women have the habit of growing into older ladies, and giving up dancing for whist."

"Peaceful times are precious in this part of the world, and I would be foolish to wish them gone."

"You assume that they think and feel as you do."

"Do you really think... they have the funds necessary to buy such a valuable tract of land from your father?"

"Perhaps I assume too much."

"There are other birds in the forest, and as far as getting you to my table, I expect that won’t be too difficult, either."

"If I take that bird home to roast, you’ll come up and eat it with us and listen to my stories."

"I’m determined to keep my brother solvent."

"He has trouble staying away from the betting tables?"

"It seems for a moment as though Many-Doves would take offense: a flurry of irritation flitted across her face. But then she smiled reluctantly and turned to follow her mother into the next room, with Hannah in tow."

"We have things to learn from each other, then," Elizabeth said.

"Each day can be a new beginning if we allow it to be."

"The storm came up fast, but we made tracks."

"A place of their own, the opportunity to live as they must, from the land, with a degree of security they had never known: it seemed very reasonable to her."

"It seemed very important that she make the right response here, but what that might be was a mystery."

"Even simple things were now so complicated that she saw the wisdom of holding back with her opinion."

"Why do you watch me from the woods?"

"You’re safe here with us," Nathaniel said. "The judge knows that."

"Comfort me with apples."

"You’ve never seen a longhouse," he said. "Whole families together... The Hode’noshaunee don’t think anything of it."

"If you can’t hunt— And your provisions are gone— There’s nothing to do but go."

"It’s too late for that," she said with a calm that surprised him. "I’m already in it."

"To you maybe."

"You can’t be responsible for what every man of your acquaintance does."

"So you are," Nathaniel murmured.

"This looks a likely poem," she said finally. "But I’m afraid the dialect is a bit beyond me. Do you know it?"

"Cora never let the girls go to bed without some Scots to fall asleep by," he said. "They come by it honest."

"There’s laws now against hunting out of season."

"But you told me that Richard deals straight with people."

You look as if you’ve been eating strawberries.

Your mouth is so red.

Pretty women ain’t so very rare, but a pretty woman who stands up to a room full of strange men and defends herself—that's something else.

Blessed are those wise in the ways of books, for theirs is the kingdom of righteousness and fair play.

Little girls are kept away from the things that would make them strong, in the name of protection and propriety.

Don’t tie yourself in knots. I won’t put a hand on you ever again unless you ask me to.

You will get what you ask for. So think hard about it first.

The world around it every shade of white.

The cave of wonders, where everything glittered of gold and jewels.

You don’t want a gentleman, do you? You want somebody as set on their sights as you are, and willing to do what has to be done, and damn the consequences.

I do not belong at home!

The person I am, that person is invisible to him.

Wake up, child. The man is at your mercy, don’t you see that?

You consider what your daddy wants from you, and what you want from him, and how you gonna come out on top.

I give it to myself. I take it for myself.

It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself.

I will choose my own friends, and go my own way, on my own terms.

You listen here, Elizabeth.

You want to go back to England?

But there are times when a person has to take a stand.

"I hope to be sending my Jemima, Miz Elizabeth," she said. "I pray to the Lord that my good husband will see the value."

"I’m sorry to hear that," said Elizabeth. "But there’s nothing to forgive, after all."

"You can’t et books, you know," she said.

"Thank you most kindly for your concern," Elizabeth replied.

"You are very welcome to borrow books whenever you like."

"Lost in her books, as usual," said Julian at the door.

"I think it’s very nice," Kitty said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Many-Doves suits you better," he said, and he smiled as Elizabeth had not seen him smile since he was a young boy.

"You are planning on coming to the school, as well?" she asked incredulously.

"I suppose that there are some significant advantages to the arrangement, however ... unorthodox it may be otherwise," he said.

"A person can have more than one name."

"I thought that was the whole idea."

"If that’s what you want most in the world, Boots."

"You can’t pretend to me the way you do to the others."

"This could be mine. My home. Mine alone."

"Thank you anyway, and thank you for Hannah."

"You can’t pretend to me like you do to the others."

"I wake up wanting you and go to sleep wanting you."

"You’re a brave one. My mother would have liked you, English or not."

"I have no intention of getting myself killed, if that’s what you mean."

You’ll have to come visit with Kitty more often. She brings such enthusiasm with her, and you are the heart of serenity.

Katherine does not speak to me of her personal affairs.

Mark my words, happy unions cannot take root under such a cloud of deception and artifice.

Who could do something for him? Who could?

He wouldn’t welcome my interference in his affairs, either.

There was something in his manner which caused Elizabeth to trust him.

You are very perceptive.

It is only that I am more familiar with Richard Todd’s childhood than you might be.

If it is within my power, I will answer.

You are not a frivolous person, and I didn’t think you would want loud protestations which you must yourself observe to be less than truthful.

What terrible messes we get ourselves into when we are silly enough to fall in love.

If two people are to live together.

It’s a damn exciting game, this lacrosse.

You’d never know that he’s white.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

It is a great honor to play for the clan in the Midwinter games.

I wish I were so sure.

This way, you’ll be able to see better.

You honor us by coming to watch.

You wouldn’t suit? What does that have to do with it?

"It would take her an hour, now that she knew the way."

"Sleep’s the thing, she told herself firmly."

"I wish you had told me. About Richard’s mother."

"Never underestimate the force of a blow to a man’s pride."

"I had come to the conclusion that I’d be better off as your wife than my father’s daughter—but now I wonder."

"What would you call it, then? You want me to marry you so you can give me your property. What did you intend to do about the taxes?"

"If you weren’t such an idiot, perhaps you’d see what I’m trying to tell you!"

"I want you, whispered Elizabeth, blinking hard."

"I told you once that you only had to ask. I just wasn’t sure what you were asking."

"I want to watch you with Hannah, see what you’ve got to teach her."

"You will concede, sir, that I do not tell you how to set your traps, or what game you should hunt. I ask the same courtesy of you, that you allow me to judge where and when and whom I teach."

"If she wants to teach redskins, then she should do it somewhere else."

"Anger could be a very good thing, she knew, if she could just harness it and turn it to her advantage."

"Now, if you will excuse me—" And she turned back to the counter, where Anna stood with both fists on her hips.

"I am glad to know that the schoolhouse will be finished soon."

"This is what I know, Chingachgook ain’t a stupid man, and he ain’t a rich one, neither."

"You’re mighty interested in stories today."

"Now, this is where the story gets peculiar, like."

"What if he finds somebody to really read it to him someday?"

"No man will stand between you and Hidden Wolf, but you haven’t reckoned with me."

"Our stories are still worth listening to."

"I think Jemima and I understand each other well enough."

"There is a first-time nature of the crime, I suspend the sentence and stipulate that the fine can be worked off."

"If a resident of Paradise seeks me out in my official capacity, then I am always at home."

"However, it would be appropriate to give him the chance to tell his version of what happened."

"I’m not eager to have him punished, but the law must be served, must it not?"

"What good news."

"You must face the consequences."

"I could not afford my anger right now; I couldn't afford to be thinking of him, or of her."

"He couldn’t afford to get shot now, not now, when things were starting to happen."

"You think I ain’t seen you, bitin’ your lip when the judge talk. Trying to look like you agree when you don’t."

"You got them fooled, all right. But let me tell you, that smile about as believable as teats on a bull."

"When I close my eyes at the last, it’ll be your face I see, right at this moment."

"I trust Nathaniel to look after me."

"You have to leave your father’s home and come to me. Because once this is done, you are mine to keep and protect, and I am yours."

"I wasn’t sure that I would, but after a bit, I did like it. This. Being with you."

"Are you—is everything—all right?"

"I was thinking that some things don’t lend themselves to rational analysis."

"Come on along now, got to get you back home and in dry clothes before you take a chill."

"I expect it’s better if you let me tell the stories for right now. I got one or two might interest you."

"Some men get an idea in their head and they cain’t let go. It festers, and turns into a kind of poison."

"Richard’s got the Wolf in him, you see, Elizabeth, and if you take it away from him, there’s no telling what might happen."

"It’s not right, what Richard wants to do to them."

"Just you two make sure you don’t forget about Richard. Because he surely won’t forget about you."

"You know how many babies I delivered in my time?"

"I learned a lot from her. Just a year ago it was that a fever took her and I miss her every day."

"But the other three—the Todd boys and Hester—they was adopted into the tribe, and there they stayed. We had no word of them for some many years."

"The Mohawk know the value of a child. It was the children they wanted, you see, to start with."

"He did. With no more than a knife and a bag of nocake on him, he walked the length of the bush down to Paradise."

"It was in ’65 that the trouble came, in the fall."

But think again, my laddie.

You think you’ve got me in a corner.

A thought occurred to her which might at least gain her a little time.

You can't always be daydreaming when the fat's in the fire.

Life would be easier if I had never met him.

I must do what I needed to do to secure my own future.

There is, after all, nothing more to say.

With you as mistress of the holdings, you will be able to exert some influence.

Boring. Lonely. Mastered.

A single woman newly in possession of a good fortune.

"If not for Curiosity, she might have slept until morning."

"It was easier than she imagined, getting down the stairs and into the study."

"She pulled them out again, even as some other part of her mind screamed at her to get out, to go."

"The fourteenth day of March, 1793 Oakmere My dearest niece Elizabeth, Never before in my life have I more wanted those magical powers which no mortal can possess."

"Such is my concern for your welfare and future."

"Elizabeth crumpled the letter against her breast as if the paper could stop the erratic beating of her heart."

"With hands suddenly much more steady but a heart as cold and heavy as clay, she locked her father’s secretary and left his house."

"Not bothering to take a last look around her at the rooms which she had thought would be her home for the rest of her life."

"Kitty’s clothing was disturbed; her eyes glittered."

"He considered Elizabeth for a long moment, one brow cocked."

"I still got my better stories to tell, so keep your wits about you."

"Don’t go too far, and don’t use any leaves you can’t put a name to."

"You’re ill at ease and I ain’t helping much."

"It wouldn’t hurt you to talk to me a little, you know. It won’t make them move any faster, and it would be... a comfort."

"Now you know how to drink from a stream."

"Tonight we’ll talk. Once we’re wed. That is, if we don’t find better things to do."

"As tired as she was, as much as she feared what lay ahead, Elizabeth welcomed the challenge. She was determined not to disappoint him."

"Every step took her farther away from her father and Richard Todd. She thought of the unread letter next to her heart and set her jaw a little harder."

"He was quiet when he was worried."

"They moved fast on the water and this was slow, but she was expending her own energy now and that felt right."

'You’ll have a good husband in Nathaniel Bonner.'

'To see the value of Nathaniel Bonner where other Englishwomen would see only buckskin and hands that know the meaning of work.'

'Damn the land… And damn your father and damn your aunt Merriweather and most of all goddamn to everlasting hell your know-it-all Mrs. Wollstonecraft.'

'If you don’t need to be here, and you’re still here, then I want to know why.'

'I’m here because I love you.'

'I only wish this were being seen to in a more orderly fashion.'

'Marry not, Elizabeth. And so that it will be possible for you to pursue your studies and your teaching, I am prepared to do what must be done.'

'Your clarity of purpose and single-mindedness… Do not marry where your heart is not.'

'You could have what you want for yourself… Is that what you want?'

It was possible to be terribly frightened and extraordinarily, inconceivably happy, all in the same breath.

She could not attend her own wedding as an imposter, wearing clothes she had no right to.

This much she could do for Nathaniel, if she couldn’t wear Many-Doves’ beautiful dress.

You know what you got here, I hope... The truth is what a bride needs, you realize.

I understand you’re unsettled... But try not to wiggle too much.

Without her John Bradstreet would have died, so maybe we should be drinking her health.

It’s a tale that’s been told too many times already.

Imagine... Nathaniel... just picked him up and walked out as if he had been sent to fetch him.

A bride ain’t prone to disbelieve any good thing you got to say about her man.

He stood there and watched her for many minutes, until he could believe what he was seeing: his own good fortune.

"You’re all warm."

"I need to—There’s something—"

"You are not legally married."

"I beg to differ."

"She has no good name left to protect."

"You are an arrogant, overblown boor."

"I see no such witnesses here, Dr. Todd."

"I might also add that your behavior this morning shows an appalling lack of manners and good breeding."

"You’re strong, and you’re brave enough for ten."

"I love you."

"The pain is important."

"Wolf is a hunter, but most of all, Wolf never hunts alone. The pack is the most important thing, and he hunts for the pack and with it."

"I call him what he is. Right now he is Nathaniel."

"If I were to go north to Stone-Splitter or west to join Little-Turtle, then I would shave my head again and dare my enemies to take my scalplock."

"Ye must be able tae set off richt if ye dinna want tae gang agley."

"Aye, and muny times ower, for her sake."

"There’s nae truth to his claim?"

"But ye’re wrong there, lassie. A Kahnyen’kehàka wad thole it, an’ ye’ll look far and wide i’ the world for a better race o’ men, braw and bonnie."

"Ye’ve got a fine man an a’, and lan’ tae live on, and your school, and a bonnie dauchter tae raise, wi’ more bairns tae come."

"I am," he said. "And so must you be."

"But I will," Elizabeth said quite sincerely, coming forward."

"You’ve been a long time," she said. "What happened?"

"Will you have me in the daylight, Boots?"

"You’re welcome," he said, pulling her even closer, leaning in and then away, hesitating still.

"I want to be more than this woman you met under the falls. I want all of you, Boots."

"What are you thinking?" Nathaniel asked, and she realized he had been watching her face.

"I was worried."

"There’s no one in the world to interrupt us, and nowhere to go."

"I will teach you what you want to know."

"Patience took on a new meaning, then, in the next long minutes."

"But you won’t go alone, Elizabeth."

"Well, it wouldn’t be for lack of trying."

"He was looking at her with a calm affection; there was nothing of humor or teasing or lust in him at this moment, just the wish to reassure her."

"I’m thinking that you’re my wife, scowl on your face and all. No matter what comes, nothing and nobody can change that fact, Boots. And I’m glad of it."

"If I thought there was any chance of speaking sense to them—"

"You’ve had time, I wanted to say. But I watched him striding out into the depths and then swimming strongly."

"I know that the fine perspiration on my brow and the tremble in my hands do not escape him. But I hold his gaze until he nods, slowly."

"I won’t ask you to give up your school, no matter what comes, and I won’t resent the time you put into it."

"You sound as though you’re regretting the loss of the man."

"I should have made you listen."

It belonged to no one, and never could; the mountains and the scattering of lakes in greens and azures and the endless, ageless forests.

It was a great vanity and self-delusion to believe that such a world could be claimed, could be owned, by simply putting a name on it.

He doesn’t trust you with her, not yet.

Promise me you won’t do that again.

He might have killed me?

He was so polite.

You can be a stupid woman, Elizabeth. Do you have no idea what he might have done to you?

I told him that you had the very good sense to fall in love with a well-to-do spinster and marry well.

You’re thinking about Sarah, but you’re afraid to ask.

Hannah is my child, and I’ll ask you kindly to take that as fact and never question it.

"We do what we got to do, ain’t that so, Miz Kitty?"

"You’ll be glad of women around you when your time come along."

"When the urge to talk comes upon me, I’ll call on the Lord instead."

"You come over here by her side. Help her sit up when the pains come, so she can put some muscle behind her push."

"A little noise ain’t going to turn you blue, now is it?"

"Men got one kind of important, women got another."

"It’s one of them mysteries… takes no time at all to get one planted and hours of hard work to make the trip in the opposite direction."

"You can stop whining; it’s Martha here who’s got the hardest work to do. Don’ you go running out on her."

"I’ll mind my manners for a few more minutes here, out of respect for Martha."

"Your sister don’t need your protection anymore."

“There’s not a cowardly bone in you.”

“A lady is always prepared for mishaps.”

“If you pull it out by the roots and you keep doing it long enough, it gives up eventually.”

“It is a great luxury, the freedom to speak what is on my mind.”

“I expect we’ll tussle.”

“You should be able to walk on this tomorrow.”

“If you coated yourself with this every morning you’d be better off.”

“Do you really know where we are?”

“I please you, then, do I?”

“Man hurt.”

"Not all things lend themselves to rational explanation."

"Do you remember saying that to me?"

"You think they sleep through the winter?"

"Keep that in mind: these ain’t no fairy folk."

"I wonder if that very same idea is going through the rabbit’s head when the shadow of the owl falls over it."

"They play games with you, like children set on mischief, throwing rotten apples at a man sweating in the field."

"But I expect I’ll be up and about tomorrow."

"In the night I seen them here... chunking things at me, and howling. And I drove them off with fire."

"I am tempted to claim that I have none... But I fear you know me too well already to accept that."

"You’ll never be invisible again. Not to me, never to me."

"To come so far and die of a scratch."

"I ain’t Catholic. Not inside."

"Tell him I got this far, would you?"

"Tell him how sweet the water is up here."

"You thought I was out of my head."

"She hid it under her tongue all that time, thinking she would need good medicine on this side of the world."

"In my lungs, don’t expect it’ll be much longer now."

"What is it?"

"I didn’t mean to complain."

"A blessing of Robbie’s: ‘To you the sheltering spirit of healing.’"

"There was such concentration in him, such focus. He would do what must be done and do it simply and well."

"If you feel like washing go on down to the lake, we can take care of him when you get back."

"But she was sticky with perspiration and meat drippings and she knew that they would be moving fast for two or perhaps three days, stopping only when it was no longer light."

"On a sudden whim she wiped her wet hands on her leggings and stood, tossing her plait over her shoulder."

"I guess they’ll hang you for killing her," Richard called. "I won’t mind watching."

"I can’t get him out of there without your help."

"I forbid you to die," she said. "I won’t let you."

"I’ve already torn it up," Elizabeth said. "And burned the scraps. And I am not obliged to you in any way at all."

"You married the wrong man," he said with a grimace. "But you sure as hell shot the right one."

"If you hurt him, then a court of law would be the best you could hope for."

"I’m frightened," she said aloud.

"Keep your wits about you, Hawkeye had said to her so many weeks ago. I’ve still got my best stories to tell."

"She’s likely sitting under a tree right now."

"What he wanted to do was to get down to the lake and lie in the water, where it would be cool and he could listen to the loons."

"If you could have one of them, right now, which would it be?"

"You think it was my fault, I know you do. Everybody does."

"I’ll have a few of my own," Elizabeth muttered.

"The storm swelled again, and the fire sputtered."

"It was too unpleasant a place."

"What she wanted, really, was to get a grip on what she could not understand."

But eat she must.

Somewhere during the storm she had lost the kind of breathless fear which had threatened to overwhelm her.

Panic was replaced by a calmness of purpose.

Not so long ago, the Indians would have fought over those long curls of yours.

She could not always put a name to what she heard, but she could say if it was out of place.

Miracles are a luxury you cannot afford, she told herself sternly.

You have only yourself to depend on.

A woman who had always taken pleasure in a task well done, Elizabeth turned her face upward and sent a howl of satisfaction spiraling into the sky.

She was off course, but not badly.

She wondered if it was possible simply to die of despair.

“I cannot let him die alone and without me,” she said, looking between them. “I will not. Don’t you understand, both of you? I am responsible.”

“It’s a good day to walk.”

“Whate’er it is ye’ve got behind ye these few days on the trail, it has left scars for all tae see, and others festerin’ deep inside—ye needna contradict me.”

“Pay me mind, lass. Ye mun hae a day’s rest, or there willna be a wife for Nathaniel tae come hame tae.”

“Well done, my sister.”

“I didn’t kill the panther.”

“But he did, and you killed him.”

“Why not? It is your right.”

“You will make a good husband someday.”

“Until midday, then.”

I could go on alone... I managed on my own in the bush for days, I’m sure I could manage two hours in terrain such as this.

He is a good man, and our brother.

I did not leave my husband to die... I went only to fetch Robbie—Yotsìtsyonta.

A woman’s righteous anger has its own magic.

Courage, lass... Let the boy talk.

She killed Lingo with his own rifle.

Bone-in-Her-Back has walked many days to find her husband.

I never doubted you, never for a moment.

You are the wife of Nathaniel, whom we call Okwahorowakeka?

I thank you for my husband’s health.

"Give me a tenth of her strength, he thought."

"The world will be right again," he said. "Together we will make it right."

"She would have made it on her own, she’s that tough. But she wouldn’t have had a chance to heal, and now she does."

"What you did for her I can’t ever repay," he said. "Although I will surely do my best."

"The biggest bone that one has is in her head. Stubborn as the sun in the summer sky."

"The gray of her eyes seemed lighter now that her skin had darkened in the sun."

"None of it would have mattered if you hadn’t come back to me."

"You cannot make a moccasin or skin a deer. You cannot cure hides. You know nothing of the crops, how to plant or tend them."

"If you stay with us for the summer, we will teach you our stories, and you can teach us your own."

"What they do with it once they leave my classroom I cannot determine."

"Because you have a magic that is new to me, I would like to understand it."

"Your spirit is stronger than mine, stronger than Yewennahnotha’s was."

"You have bound him to you with his child."

"I am not with child," Elizabeth whispered, but even as she said this, her mind raced."

"How could she have not noticed, how could she have overlooked what her own body tried to tell her?"

"You did not know," Splitting-Moon said.

"He will be pleased."

"I am happy. It was true, in spite of all that had happened. She was content."

"It’s about that, isn’t it? Not so much about Hannah, but about getting your daughter back."

"I never doubted you," she said softly. "Never for a moment."

"There is no way to repay you for the gift of my good health."

"The boy has the right to fight his own ghosts."

"Everything I wore and everything I ate came from them, but that this was taken for granted: their generosity was fundamental to their character."

"I owe him a great deal, but it is time to go home."

"I’ve no’ a doot the day will come when they will need your friendship."

"Stay away from it and suffer the bites."

"She knew. Made-of-Bones knew about the child."

"Le pouliot, it is poisonous."

"My grandmother would counsel against any O’seronni medicine for a breeding woman."

"Suddenly Elizabeth wished she had made more of an effort with her."

The canoe is very fast. It is mine. All day long I splash away. I paddle along, I paddle along.

There’s no hurry now, is there?

I have learned to cope with many indignities in the past weeks.

Maybe it’s not you we’re stopping for.

Splitting-Moon told me that it was natural, you not being hungry.

The child takes what it needs, one way or the other.

I wouldn’t change you, Boots, if I could.

Will ye go, lassie, go?

There is much to look forward to.

Sometimes it seemed that she would never again be fully awake.

The world will be right again, he had said to her. Together we will make it right.

You sorry you took me on, Boots? Never.

She would push herself past reason, if he let her. She wore her determination like war paint.

He carries the moon on his back, trying to take it home to his young.

A thousand, and a thousand more, but never so willingly.

It will serve all the better for not being Oakmere.

I could not be more pleased.

It cowpit me on my doup.

You’ve been a good friend to me in these past months, and I will not forget it.

I like it very much. Is it for the three of us, then?

"I don’t care about the village. I don’t care about anything but being here with you. I can’t tell you what this means to me, Nathaniel. This place of our own."

"Promise me you won’t wander off on your own without one of the men nearby. And don’t let Hannah go off, either."

"But yes, a little. Nathaniel, we can’t hide. We have to live our lives."

"Good friends are a great treasure."

"You are a strong woman. You have shown yourself to be braver than most, and a true friend."

"I will trust you with the care of my granddaughter, but I will watch you."

"All women are alike when they fear for their children."

"You scare one stupid man, he’ll most likely run off. But a crowd of stupid men—there ain’t nothing more dangerous, or meaner."

"The judge may settle right down when he hear a grandchild on the way, no matter what your brother got to say."

"There’s nothing more dangerous or meaner than a crowd of stupid men."

"Ye’ve no’ seen the last o’ Robbie MacLachlan."

"The Maker of Life is good"

"I hope to see my great-grandson before he calls me to the Council Fire."

"If there’s trouble, then get ye tae Axel, for it’s gey certain he willna desert ye in yer time o’ need."

"But there’s rough talk in the toon, lass, and I fear it will come tae a bad end."

"I haven’t a doubt that yer menfolk can stan’ for ye; dinna mistake me. But there’s rough talk in the toon, lass, and I fear it will come tae a bad end."

"Aye, that is a start. P’rhaps the idea o’ ye wi’ bairn will do some guid."

"When I fly at night, I have seen my great-grandson in your arms."

"Your father didn’t come up with this plan on his own."

"Then let’s go and settle this business."

"If you only knew how much trouble."

"My wife has a home; she don’t need the judge’s charity."

"You’ll find us good neighbors, if you’ll leave us in peace."

"This would take no good end."

"There are other people, reasonable people, in the village."

"Take your eyes off my candy jar and say how-do."

"Elizabeth, we’re done here."

"If you want to talk civilized, then you step back there and use a suitable tone, or I’ll pick you up and toss you out the door myself."

"Well, now, I dunno; I suppose so, long as you don’t get too close."

"Not now that you’ve had fair warning. You all leave us to our own business."

No man is an island, entire of itself—JOHN DONNE

It does seem to me that we need to show our faces in the village, once in a while. We must live among these people, after all.

Didn’t feel very good, anyway.

If you are satisfied with your work, then sit quietly until we are finished. However, if you think you could do better, you might try again.

It seems as if you do. Why would you spend your valuable time listening at the window, if you did not?

I suppose that does sum it up. Best get along.

You’re sure that’s what’s on their minds?

I will not hide from my father, and I’m surprised that you would want me to.

If you’ve got a taste for duck, well, then come down to Half Moon late this afternoon.

I will not hide from my father, and I’m surprised that you would want me to.

"There’s a beauty to be found in tracking a deer and taking her down clean."

"You must listen to them if you want to track them. I will teach you how to sing to them."

"I thought we were going to join the party?"

"Perhaps it was one of the most instructive."

"Don’t judge them too harsh; or yourself, either. It’s going to take some time."

"A reminder."

"How is Jemima?"

"When I look at this... It seems so wasteful. Next year there will be no more wood ducks, and how sad that is."

"But of course there’ll be wood ducks next year. They come up in the spring, they always have and they always will."

"He felt it then: the soft tumbling that was the child announcing itself, a swimmer in a quiet sea."

"The revolution seemed such a hopeful thing in the beginning. I can hardly imagine what it’s turned into."

"We’ll manage this, Boots. We’ve managed worse."

"This looks like a city to you, Boots, but this place has been in the middle of one war after another since the first Dutchman put up a hut and called it home."

"It was the most difficult and the most important experience of my life," she said. "I will never be the same again."

"Give me something to write with, and we’ll see this done."

"All is not lost. He has set a court date in September. If Richard does not appear for that, then his claim will be automatically dismissed."

"I will just tell them you married me for my money."

"We can afford it... At the moment, at any rate."

"The young women will need support after they are released. Help setting up a home, and provisions, and some kind of meaningful work."

"You are an amazing woman, if I may say so. But there is one thing you have not told us, and if I do not ask I will always be curious."

"If thou wilt survive in the wilderness, thou must take heavenly direction in whatever form it comes to thee."

"There is always another river."

"You and I are very fortunate."

"A man with no center will try to fill the void that rules him."

"It’s going to take more than a little luck to pull this off, Boots."

"Luck is for the unprepared and the mediocre. What we need is a plan. And careful timing."

"Some folks sit tight and let life happen to them."

"I cannot leave him sitting in that gaol, and live with myself. Not tonight, not for another day."

"What we need is a plan. And careful timing. And quite possibly, a large gourd from Anna’s garden."

"I will go in there and speak to Kirby. Perhaps I can appeal to his better instincts."

"You’re a fine woman, Elizabeth. I’m proud to call you daughter."

"This is not a game, Julian. This is my life. I have a husband, I have a home. I am never coming back."

"I will keep what is mine."

"A man with no center will try to fill the void that rules him."

"You have no soul. You know that to be true, which is your second curse. And the harder one to live with."

"You did good, Boots. Thank you."

"I hope you are not so very short of cash that you’re resorting to petty thievery again."

"Whatever in the world are you doing here? Or is that a question you cannot answer?"

"If it bought Hawkeye the chance to be with his father before it was too late, I would take on Jed McGarrity’s anger, and gladly."

"I have only what was rightfully mine."

“If you can put a harness on your impatience now and sit on your hurt pride, you will have at least a prayer of getting what you want.”

“Discretion is the better part of valor, it is also a more promising strategy in this little war of yours.”

“He had gone to this homecoming gladly.”

“One day it would be his turn to walk this path, and then she would stand here with their children beside her, and she would find the words to tell the story of his days.”

“You’re still here, all of you. You’ll just have to carry on without me.”

“If we must go in the end, then we will all go together.”

“She would outlive them all to tell the tale. He would see to it.”

“It is skilled work, and I have need of many things for myself, and for Hannah—and for the new child.”

“We can make the difference up in trade, if you’d be so kind.”

“You and me have dealt with worse in our time, have we not?”

"A revolution ain’t nothing but a good spring cleaning long overdue, after all."

"There’s always hope."

"You don’t smile enough these days, Elizabeth, and you got plenty to smile about, ain’t you?"

"You have a way of looking at things, Curiosity. It is very disarming."

"A family party? Strange family, I’d say."

"Sometimes, truth be told, I am angry at my father. That he ran away? No, that he didn’t go long ago, and take me with him."

"You a terrible fraud, Elizabeth. Look me in the face and say you don’t know nothing about the man’s business here."

"Those were not pleasant experiences, Hannah. I did not go looking for them, and I wish that neither had been necessary."

"If you want to go, he won’t say no. He can’t refuse you anything."

"Do you think my father sent him this way? No. The judge and your brother won’t be in Albany until sometime tomorrow..."

“Excessive worry will not resolve anything.”

“I don’t want you worrying overmuch, Boots.”

“You don’t need to work so hard, Boots.”

“I’m as healthy as an ox.”

“It’s the talk of the village, your recital.”

“You will do the school great credit.”

“Whatever the lack of understanding between your father and me, I am very glad to have you in my classroom.”

“It still seemed improbable, that she should have arrived at such a place in her life.”},{

There is nothing to fear in the dark.

Only O’seronni fear what is not there.

It was lovely and quiet here.

Hannah pulled the door firmly closed. A shawl was draped over the chair; it was thick and warm, and it had Elizabeth’s scent.

Time to go.

I hope to the Almighty God that you had nothing to do with this.

Many-Doves beating on the door, her hair dancing in the flames.

Just unlock the door. Just turn the key.

I wish that it were in my power.

The rest of the land. Safe now, from you.

"I did it," she said. "I didn’t think I could, but I did."

"If he’s kept warm... and fed regular, and if God is kind, why then, yes, I’d say he’s got a chance."

"I promise you to do everything in my power to make sure he has a fair trial."

"You can stay with us... He can stay with us."

"You’ll have to hand that gold over to the treasury."

"If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing all the way."

"I’ll talk to him," she said. "And see what he knows."

"There ain’t no place safe left in the world."

"We will do what we can to see that he comes to trial."

"For his family, for himself. When the rush of his blood had calmed enough, he went into the cave and collected the gold coins."

You are one of the bravest women I have ever known.

She does not hold you responsible for what happened to Julian. He made his own way.

It’s a good thing that Kitty’s squared away, then.

What a strange and wonderful place this is.

Is that not so? It is so.

Finding the good even in the saddest of fates is an essential skill.

You must tell me if I am being too demanding—I am only a visitor, and I have no wish to disrupt your household.

I see no sense in criticizing you for living a life different from the one you would have had in England.

This is not England, after all—so much I have learned on this journey.

It’s damn hard to like a saint.

The world is yours without Richard Todd, if you so desire it.

Marry again, and you are subject to your new husband’s whims.

Revenge is a bitter meal. It is not one to linger over.

There is more than one kind of man in the world.

He lives in other worlds and comes into this one only when he has some purpose to serve.

You are your own mistress.

You need not pity me. Richard will come still. He promised me that he would.

You must be sure to keep her mind focused on the alternatives.

There’s a simple question here, child. What are you going to say to the man when he shows up and starts talking marriage again?

Sometimes, it takes a little charity.

"Because I must do my share," Elizabeth protested.

"You do your share," she was told, "and banished to the porch to sit in the warm sun and clean bushel after bushel of beans with Liam’s help."

"You do that already, when you’re tired." And Hannah screeched and rolled away from Elizabeth’s tickling fingers.

"I can’t imagine it," Liam said, his pale skin rising in sympathetic gooseflesh.

"This is your home now."

"I got nowhere else to go," Liam said. "I don’t want to go anywhere else."

"You’re saying?" "I am saying that she has just shown a great deal of faith in you, Liam Kirby."

"You’re flying now. Don’t give up."

"Good," she said again, her eyes drifting shut.

"Decide what kind of home you want for yourself, for your husband and your children, and if that means you must go away from here, then you must go."

"She’s never had a home like this, with women around her. Do you think she’ll give up Curiosity and this kitchen for Richard and feathered bonnets?"

"It is high time we called on her, in that case."

"You can ask him."

"Falling-Day thinks he has changed."

"Hannah is your daughter."

"If your intentions are honorable, then I cannot see how this agreement could displease you."

"That is one wish that you may actually see fulfilled."

"I’ll give you that. And gladly."

"Are we going, then?"

"Whether they stayed in Paradise or went, it did not matter, not really."

“To walk hard was the only way to keep warm without building a fire.”

“Christmas was a time of games and playfulness, she told Elizabeth. It would sustain them in the long winter ahead.”

“He should have been back hours ago; she could not pretend anymore that she was not worried.”

“The party turned in sudden silence to the door.”

“To see how it pleased her to have him home.”

“I’ll fetch him, aye?”

“Aye, and wha’ Scotsman wad turn that doon, on sic a nicht as this?”

“Here’s tae us,” he bellowed. “Wha’s like us? Gey few, and they’re a’ deid!”

“I willna be long.”

“This is our place, Nathaniel, and Hannah’s, and it will be our children’s place.”