Summary

Chapter 25 began with Mary, Jube, and Cherry staying with Elizabeth while Britt traveled during the winter of 1869. All three of the children still chafed against their return to their lives on the American frontier. Seven-year-old Lottie acted out against Elizabeth’s orders, and Jube and Cherry continued to speak Kiowa to one another. Mary began experiencing the headache and shakes that signaled a fit of panic as she thought about her captivity and worried over Britt’s extended absence. To distract herself, Mary asked Elizabeth to tell her about her first late husband, Alex Carter. He was a biracial man who married Elizabeth, a white woman, got rich by taking bold business risks, and was shot in cold blood.

As night settled upon them, a storm began. Mary confided in Elizabeth that she could no longer have a “married life” with Britt after her...