Sukey, the woman caring for Pan, finds that he reminds her painfully of her own sons. She stitches his head wound, hoping that he will survive. When he wakes and smiles at her, she tries not to become attached, knowing that he will likely be sold. Pan reveals his education through his speech, claiming that he is free and from Philadelphia. Sukey silences him, aware that other patients spy for the plantation manager, Thomas.

One night, Pan rubs lard into Sukey’s rough hands as he did for his sick mother. When he asks if she is enslaved, she nods. His question about whether she was born enslaved triggers painful memories. At 13, Sukey was being raised by Lavinia, the wife of Virginia tobacco farm owner Marshall Pyke. Lavinia treated her like a daughter, but when Sukey attacked Marshall to protect Lavinia from his violence, Marshall sent her to live with the rest of the enslaved laborers. There, a woman named Ida warned her about the overseer, Rankin.

Three days later, Rankin and his son, Jake, took Sukey in the night. As they tied her into a coffle, Rankin mentioned that James should be sold next. Jake gagged Sukey before she was chained alongside three men. Ida urged her to remember her education and present herself as trained for housework. The coffle traveled for days, with Jake simultaneously taunting and protecting Sukey from the traders, who would otherwise have raped her. On the final night, one of the enslaved men comforted the freezing, terrified girl.

In Philadelphia, James Burton studies maps and plans his route to find Pan in North Carolina. Before dawn, Henry arrives. Fearing Mr. Cardon’s pursuit, James pays extra for swift passage via steamboat and canal to Norfolk, Virginia. On the boat, Henry confronts James about his nervous behavior. James explains his relationship with Caroline and its disastrous fallout. Overwhelmed, Henry goes to sleep while James grieves. As they approach Norfolk, James is struck by homesickness for his childhood home.

In Norfolk, Henry falls gravely ill, which forces them to halt for several days. While James waits for mail, he witnesses a coffle driven through town and recognizes one of the drivers as Jake, the biracial son of Rankin, the former overseer at Tall Oaks. Jake appears to recognize James based on his one-eyed appearance. James recalls being bound and awaiting sale when he was young; Jake’s white brother taunted Jake about selling his kin. Terrified of discovery, James returns to the tavern.

A letter from Robert reveals that James’s daughter survived. Mrs. Cardon secretly brought the baby to his house the night he left. Robert has hired a wet nurse and named the child Caroline. Overjoyed, James rushes to tell Henry but finds him collapsed and dying. James promises to find Pan. After Henry’s death, James decides to send his daughter to Elly Pyke, Lavinia’s daughter, in Williamsburg for safety, knowing that she runs a school for girls. He posts the necessary letters before boarding a stagecoach for North Carolina.

Pan, now strong enough to work, is determined to contact James. One night, Pan asks Sukey for the name of the place so that he can write a letter. After checking that no one is watching, Sukey brings paper, a quill, and ink. The paper already bears a message written by Sukey stating that Pan is at Southwood in North Carolina. Pan is shocked that she can write. She silences him and spells her name on his palm. Excited to finally know her name, Pan writes a desperate letter to James, begging to be rescued.

Sukey takes the letter and places it in the hidden false bottom of a basket. Pan wonders when his letter will be sent and worries desperately about getting home.

Sukey enjoys having her hands rubbed by Pan but is pained by his questions about slavery, which remind her of her traumatic first sale. She recalls arriving at an auction yard where an old woman instructed her to wash and warned her never to reveal that she could read or write. In a holding stall, Sukey met another woman with her young daughter, Jenny. The woman insisted that she would not be sold without her child.

The next morning, Jake brought a buyer who inspected Sukey and offered $700. When the buyer expressed interest in Jenny, her mother refused separation, but the buyer argued that Jenny would have a better life being raised as a house servant. Tearfully, the mother gave Jenny to Sukey. At their new plantation, people assumed that Jenny was Sukey’s sister, and Sukey came to see her that way. Jenny constantly watched the road for her mother.

After four months, the wife of Sukey’s enslaver and two of the couple’s daughters died of fever. Jenny also caught the fever and died. Sukey was sold to a preacher’s farm by the end of that month, having been at the plantation only six months total.

James boards a stagecoach bound for Edenton, North Carolina, planning to arrange Pan’s purchase from the nearby Southwood plantation. The coach travels alongside a canal through the Great Dismal Swamp. His fellow passengers are Mr. Spencer, a widowed farmer, his two daughters—Adelaide (Addy) and Patricia (Patty)—and their 13-year-old servant, Clora.

Addy frightens her sister with talk of a maroon community murdering travelers in the swamp. Mr. Spencer confirms that self-liberated people are rumored to hide there but reassures them that he is armed. Apologizing for Addy’s forwardness, Mr. Spencer asks if James has children. James confirms that he has a daughter named Caroline and then realizes that he must choose a new name for the baby to avoid painful memories. The conversation eventually turns to the child’s mother, and James confirms that she recently died.

James tells his story about traveling to paint birds and mentions seeking lodging near Southwood plantation. Addy reveals that Southwood borders their farm, and Mr. Spencer offers James a room, warning that the Southwood plantation is managed by a man named Bill Thomas, who is “not the type to have [someone] tramping through his property” (230). James accepts, seeing this as perfect access to Pan. Mr. Spencer explains that his wife recently died in childbirth and that James’s presence will provide welcome distraction.

Pan works for Sukey while awaiting James’s arrival. One day, while he assists with a man whipped for seeking freedom, two white overseers enter. One grabs Pan and declares him a waste of money. Pan tries to defend himself, listing his household skills, but the man mocks him. As Pan starts to mention James, Sukey and the injured man create a loud distraction. As the overseers leave, one announces that he will arrange to sell Pan to a trader coming through.

Afterward, both the injured man and Sukey appear angry at Pan for speaking up. Terrified that he will be sold before James arrives, Pan cries in his bed and refuses food. That night, Sukey comes to him and traces words on his palm: “You got to be strong like my boys” (234). When Pan asks about Sukey’s sons, she confirms that they are enslaved and then retreats to her room, where he hears her crying. Pan lies awake all night, worrying about Sukey’s sons and his own uncertain fate.

Sukey worries about Pan being sold and reflects on her past. After Jenny’s death, she was bought by a preacher’s nephew for his elderly aunt and uncle. The preacher’s wife was bitter because her husband had previously impregnated an enslaved servant. The old man continually sexually harassed Sukey, but the situation was otherwise comparatively tolerable. After seven years, the nephew bought an enslaved man named Nate to help with farmwork. Sukey and Nate fell in love, and she became pregnant; they married in September 1815. Sukey gave birth to twin boys, and five “happy” years passed.

However, when the old couple died, the nephew denied any knowledge of the preacher’s plans to draw up freedom papers for Sukey and Nate. He sold Nate and Sukey to different farms, separating the family. When men tied Nate to take him away, he broke down crying.

James and the Spencers travel by carriage from Edenton to the Spencer farm. On the way, James learns that Clora and her mother, Hester, were purchased from Southwood, though Mr. Spencer appears sensitive about discussing it. At the farmhouse, James is given a room with a private entrance. While unpacking, he finds his old jacket with his grandmother’s jewels sewn inside, packed by Robert.

On a walk, the girls point out that Southwood is less than a mile away. Later, when James tries to ask Hester about Southwood, she refuses to discuss it. Social invitations arrive, which James avoids, fearing gossip from Philadelphia or recognition. The grieving Mr. Spencer makes no move to arrange a meeting at Southwood, and James begins teaching art to the girls as promised.

One evening, James presses Mr. Spencer about purchasing an enslaved boy from Southwood for assistance. Spencer reveals his dislike for Bill Thomas and explains that he only bought Hester and Clora because they came to his home in terrible condition. He agrees to provide an introduction the next day but warns that Thomas is difficult.

The two white overseers return to the sickhouse and decide that Pan will keep him working there until a trader arrives in a couple of weeks to purchase him. Pan despairs that James has not come. That night, Sukey writes that she is getting Pan out. She explains that he will leave with freedom seekers who are coming through. When Pan agrees to go, knowing he will be sold otherwise, Sukey warns him never to reveal who helped him if he is caught. He promises. Pan asks why Sukey cannot speak. She opens her mouth, revealing that her tongue has been cut out. Horrified, Pan asks why she does not leave with them, and she reveals that she is pregnant, crying as she writes that they will sell the child. Pan comforts her and promises that he and James will return for her and the baby. The next morning, he feels guilty for making Sukey cry but terrified at the knowledge that sometimes they shoot freedom seekers.

Sukey prepares to send Pan away with a freedom-seeking man from Georgia before the trader arrives. She reflects on her past after Nate was taken. Sukey and her sons were sold to a large cotton plantation, where she worked in the kitchen house with Hester, who warned her about cruel overseers. Sukey’s five-year-old sons became rebellious, wanting to find their father. She met Emma, a feared woman who ran the gardens, and Tony, who managed the sickhouse. Emma took Sukey to work with her, and Sukey began caring for Emma’s neglected baby. Emma revealed that her first child had been sold at age four, which was why she detached herself from subsequent children.

When Sukey’s seven-year-old sons were sold, she ran after them screaming. When overseers tried to stop her, she fought violently, biting one and stabbing another in the eye with a stick. As punishment, they cut out her tongue. Hester and Emma nursed her back to health. Tony taught Sukey about herbal medicine and discovered that she could read and write. After learning her sons were in Georgia, Sukey tried going to them but was caught and lashed. A year later, she was raped and became pregnant. Emma helped her through it, but the baby boy was eventually sold, along with Emma’s son. Later, Hester, Clora, and Sukey were sold to Southwood. At Southwood, Sukey runs the hospital and becomes involved with a man who helps people seeking freedom. She begins assisting him, always hoping one of her sons or Emma might come through.

James, Mr. Spencer, and Addy ride to Southwood. At the manager’s house, a white woman directs them to find her husband, Bill Thomas, at the big house. When she gives a whistle for help, Addy’s startled horse throws her to the ground, which breaks her arm. The woman tells James to fetch Sukey from the sickhouse.

As James hurries through the work yards and passes by the cooper’s shop, he is horrified to see a naked Black man being tortured in a stockade in the scorching sun. He runs to the sickhouse and pushes inside. Pan immediately recognizes him and runs to embrace him. James is angry at the sight of Pan’s emaciated state and the scar on his head, but he warns that his rescue depends on absolute silence. James explains that Sukey, who is watching, is needed at Thomas’s house and then leaves.

Addy must remain at Southwood for seven days to recover. Mr. Spencer asks James to visit her in the afternoons while he attends to farm business. He also requests that James postpone attempting to purchase an enslaved boy until Addy is safely home, fearing Thomas’s unpredictable temper. James reluctantly agrees.

The next afternoon, James visits Addy and learns that Hester, who has come to Thomas’s to tend to Addy, knows Sukey from a previous plantation. When Addy persistently asks why Sukey will not speak, a distressed Hester finally reveals that Sukey’s tongue was cut out. Both James and Addy are horrified.

Over the next few days, James continues visiting, passing the sickhouse but afraid to contact Pan. One afternoon, while leaving the main house, James meets Thomas for the first time. James introduces himself and states his desire to purchase a young boy for assistance. When James mentions seeing a suitable boy in the hospital, he accidentally says Pan’s name and then fumbles to cover his mistake. Thomas grows suspicious and dismisses him.

As James walks away, Sukey gets his attention and uses a slate to ask if he is Jamie Pyke. Stunned, James reads her next message identifying herself as Sukey from Tall Oaks. When James says that he intends to buy Pan, Sukey writes that a trader is coming for him. Other men arrive, and Sukey flees. James rides home panicking, wondering what Sukey knows and fearing that his eagerness has made Thomas suspicious. On the road, he meets Mr. Spencer, who tells him that two letters have arrived. James reveals his meeting with Thomas and asks Spencer to intervene. Spencer refuses, saying that once Thomas decides something, he cannot be swayed.

At the house, James finds one letter is from Robert and confirms his safe arrival in Williamsburg with baby Caroline, who is now under the care of Elly Pyke and Meg Madden. The next is from his Elly, who notes that Meg’s elderly mother, Mrs. Madden, disapproves of harboring Caroline, knowing James’s ancestry.

Despite Mr. Spencer’s warning, James rides to Southwood the next afternoon, determined to offer Thomas an irresistible price and to buy Sukey as well. However, Thomas refuses to sell either Sukey or Pan at any price. When James reveals that Pan was stolen and threatens prosecution, Thomas taunts him and reveals that the boy has already been sold to a trader. Thomas mentions he has someone investigating James in town, rests his hand on his gun, and orders James off the property forever. James races back to Spencer’s farm and shouts that Pan is sold. Spencer and his servant, Sam, immediately leave to retrieve Addy from Southwood.