A Mercy

The sixth chapter follows Rebekka’s perspective, as she lies on her bed, sick from smallpox. Around her, Lina tries to cure her and make her more comfortable while they wait for the Blacksmith. In her feverish state, Rebekka remembers the torturous six-week journey to America via ship when she was 16. Rebekka’s engagement to Jacob is less of a marriage and more of a “sale” because “the prospective groom had stressed ‘reimbursement’ for clothing, expenses, and a few supplies” (74). Rebekka’s mother warns her about the “savages” who will surely kill her in the New World, which explains why she was initially so cold towards Lina.

Regardless, Rebekka soon begins to consider Lina a friend, and is ashamed of the fear that she once had towards the other woman. Rebekka is adventurous and found running a farm exciting. Rebekka prefers life on the farm, away from her extremely religious parents; in the New World, she is only liable to answer to her husband and her husband alone. Rebekka is heartbroken from the three sons she lost as infants, and for her five-year-old daughter, Patrician, who died of a broken crown after falling. Rebekka thinks of her heartaches whilst in her sickbed, surrounded by visions and hallucinations of her dead children, along with the women she travelled with on the way to America.

During her travels, she bonded with Anne, who was sent away by her family; Judith and Lydia, who were exiled sex workers; and the latter’s daughter, Patty, who was 10 years old and a thief. Elizabeth, Abigail, and Dorothea were the other women Rebekka also came to know on her long journey. Dorothea, a cutpurse and thief, was who Rebekka became the closest with. The women came to know each other and spoke of their own lives. They took care of each other if anyone got sick and ate what little they had in a facsimile of a family meal. After they landed, none of the women saw each other again. Rebekka also recalls how, over the years, Jacob begins leaving the farm for longer and longer periods of time, beginning to bring in more and more money. When Jacob orders land to be cleared for a bigger house, Rebekka beseeches him to stop, saying, “we don’t need another house” (88).

Jacob insists that “what a man leaves behind is what a man is” (89), and despite Rebekka’s uncertainties, Jacob carries on with the plans for the house. Jacob is obsessed with the house, so much so that the women on the farm gather him up in blankets while he is on his deathbed and carry him into the empty new house, where he dies. Rebekka remembers a conversation she had with Lina, where the latter had confessed that the man she had once been with had been “not good” (94). In the present, Rebekka uses a mirror to look at herself and the pustules on her face. She is horrified by what she sees and repeatedly apologizes to her face. Rebekka is wracked with religious uncertainties, and certain only of Lina’s dependability. She thinks of a time when they almost starved to death and Lina managed to catch them salmon; “That was Lina. Or was it God?” (100). The chapter ends with Rebekka wishing for salvation.

Chapter 7 returns to Florens’s perspective. She dreams of her mother, whom she calls “minha mãe,” which is Portuguese for “my mother.” She dreams of minha mãe holding her brother’s hand, trying to tell Florens something that she cannot discern. When she wakes, Florens continues searching for the Blacksmith. She walks for hours until a group of young Indigenous men come across her. One offers her water out of kindness, and she drinks. He also gives her food, a dried meat that sustains her a little longer. After, the group of young men ride off and disappear. Florens remembers Lina warning her to stay away from the Blacksmith and telling her the story of her own lover, who hurt and raped her. Despite Lina’s warnings, Florens remains convinced that the Blacksmith is all she needs or wants.

After walking for two days, Florens comes across a cottage. There, she meets and finds shelter in Widow Ealing’s home. She eats and tells the Widow about her errand. She also sees the Widow’s daughter, Jane, who is bleeding from deep lacerations. Jane is trying to prove that she is not a demon, and that she has not “seen the Black Man” (109). They sleep, and in the morning, Florens watches as the Widow opens the cuts on Jane’s legs. A group of people arrive to judge Jane’s innocence, and when they see Florens, they believe her to be evil because of the color of her skin. Florens is confused as to what is going on, so she hands them the letter Rebekka wrote. They make her take off her clothes and they examine Florens closely. The little girl they have with them, which they seemingly use to gauge the holiness of a person, is scared of Florens. The group leaves in order to discuss what is to happen to Florens, and Widow Ealing goes to get the sheriff for help. Daughter Jane and Florens are the only ones left in the house. She boils duck eggs and gives them to Florens, then leads her into the woods, where she helps Florens escape safely. Florens heads in the direction of the Blacksmith. 

Chapter 8 introduces Sorrow. She has an imaginary twin she calls Twin. Sorrow remembers meeting her on the ship after everyone else had drowned. Her father is the captain of the ship, but he is gone. Sorrow remembers both her and twin being swept out by the current and then waking up under a warm blanket. Sorrow knows her real name, but “Twin whispered NO, so she shrugged her shoulders and found that a convenient gesture for the other information she could not or pretended not to remember” (118). Sorrow is 11 years old and pregnant for the first time when she is taken to the Vaark farm. Lina bathes her and, that night, Sorrow is able to sleep better than she has in months.

When Sorrow gives birth, she thinks she sees the baby yawn, but Lina says that it is dead and gets rid of the body. Sorrow wants a child and enjoys the thought of being with and having another person. Lina does not like Sorrow, and Sorrow continues to rely on Twin more and more. Sorrow is loneliness incarnate, and Twin stops her from becoming friendly with Florens. Lina keeps Sorrow at arm’s length from everyone, so Sorrow is forced to have Twin alone, her own imagination, for company. The Blacksmith, on his first visit to the farm, had cured Sorrow of her illness. Sorrow, too, had been trying to keep Florens away from the Blacksmith, but by the time she recovered, Florens was already in love with him.

Sorrow and Twin watched while Florens and the Blacksmith had sex and kissed. In the present day, the Blacksmith arrives alone, and Sorrow leads him to Lina and Rebekka. Lina and the Blacksmith argue about if and when Florens will return before he leaves in the middle of the night after curing Rebekka. Lina is heartbroken at Florens’s disappearance, and after 10 days, has stopped working while Rebekka recovers. Sorrow’s water breaks, and she goes to Will and Scully for help in giving birth. They help her, and Sorrow gives birth to a baby girl. Twin disappears, and Sorrow stops wandering, having set duties and routines around the farm. Sorrow names herself Complete (134).