Summary

Chapter 17, Pilgrim’s Last Stand

This chapter finds Assistant District Attorney Richard Payne helicoptering to the Pilgrim family’s mountaintop home to speak at length with Rose, who apparently tells him everything. Papa himself is captured after nearly two weeks on the run but Payne worries that there is little physical evidence so his case will depend heavily on the testimony of Elishaba and the other family members, but he worries about whether they will be able to stand up against such a strong father figure. He decides not to file charges against Rose because she is a textbook abuse victim and going after her would confirm Papa’s warnings about evil government officials and upset the children too much to testify. Property-rights advocates are forced to distance themselves publicly from Pilgrim and Joseph writes a letter of apology to the people...