Chapter 33 and Author's Note Summary

The final chapter is set in the fall of 1768 - thirteen years after Mary and the others were taken captive. Mary and her family now live at Ingles' Ferry where they own and operate an inn. Will has become successful. Bill Baker is Will's companion. He is an adventurer who was a captive of the Indians for many years. Will is also accompanied by a seventeen-year-old boy - Tommy. Will has managed to buy Tommy from the Indians, though the boy's return is a surprise to Mary. As Mary comes to the door to meet the trio, she is accompanied by Bettie Draper who was also ransomed several years earlier. Mary's three daughters, ages eight, six and four run to meet their father. When Bill Baker tells Tommy that Mary is his mother, Tommy dismounts and says...