Characters
Elsbeth's good friend/love interest who did odd jobs for Bellingham and joins the Patriot army as a drummer
Shubel (Shubbe) Kent
What happened to Elsbeth's mother and siblings?
They died of smallpox
How does Elsbeth and Shubel's relationship change by the end of the novel?
Develops from friendship/courtship into marriage after Shubel finishes fighting in the war
What does Elsbeth want in return for helping Mr. Doubt become a suitor for Hannah?
She wants him to help Shubel find a respectable job
What disease causes major problems throughout the novel?
Smallpox
A wealthy orphan whose grandmother placed her under Captain Hunter’s guardianship
Hannah Sparhawk
Why is Mrs. Pike angry with her husband at the beginning?
His spying/imprisonment embarrassed the family
What crime is Elsbeth accused of?
Treason/spying
Why does Hannah want to leave the Pike home?
She misses her grandmother and wants to return to her.
Why does Missus Pike not want to have her family inoculated?
She is afraid that one of her children might die from the inoculation
Young man who is "almost" a doctor and looooves Hannah
Mr. Nyott Doubt
Why is Mr. Pike distrusted by both Patriots and Loyalists?
Patriots distrust him because he had been a Loyalist; Loyalists distrust him because he was a Patriot spy.
Who reports Elsbeth after finding out about her letter from Halifax?
Widow Nash
What does Hannah learn about her grandmother from Missus Crandall? How is Captain Hunter involved?
Her grandmother died months earlier (which means Captain Hunter had been lying to her)
How can others tell that Elsbeth survived smallpox as a child?
She has scars/pockmarks from the disease.
Hannah's guardian and in charge of Pike’s companies and ships
Captain Hunter
Where does Thomas go after arguing with his father?
He joins Captain Hunter and the crew of the Defiance
How does Elsbeth learn that Pappa is alive? What happened to him?
She learns through his letter from Halifax that the British kidnapped him and forced him to make sails for the Royal Navy.
What do Elsbeth and Hannah have in common throughout most of the novel?
Both lost family and have little to no control over their own lives.
How does the smallpox epidemic ultimately affect Hannah?
She becomes sick with smallpox and dies.
Pike's housekeeper who resents Elsbeth challenging her authority
Widow Nash
What happens to the Defiance and Captain Hunter?
The Defiance sinks, Captain Hunter is killed, and Thomas is rescued.
How does Elsbeth set a trap for Billy Rawdon?
She tricks Billy into searching Captain Hunter’s house for supposed treasure and arranges for the constable to catch him
Why does Elsbeth want to leave the Pikes? How does she plan to support herself?
She is heartbroken after Hannah's death and becomes cranky and mean like Widow Nash. She plans to bind herself (apprentice) to a seamstress so she can learn the trade.
What procedure does Mr. Pike insist his family undergo to protect them from the outbreak?
Smallpox inoculation
Elsbeth's employer and a former spy
Mr. Pike
He was the person she helped when he was suffering from smallpox in the boarding house where her father stayed
How did Captain Hunter take advantage of both Hannah and Mister Pike?
He controlled Hannah’s inheritance after hiding her grandmother's death and stole/mismanaged money from Mister Pike's business (claimed Pike's ships and warehouse had burned).
How did Elsbeth know that Hannah’s illness was not going to improve?
Elsbeth noticed Hannah’s face was covered in smallpox sores that connected to each other and the stench of decay
Why does Doctor Crookshank diagnose Hannah with a "summer cold" instead of smallpox?
Hannah had told him she had smallpox as a child, so he assumes she cannot get it again.
(He only examined her for a moment, and Hannah was caring for Howler/in the Pike household)