Midnight Rider

Parson Barnard escorts Hannah outside the church, where men are loading the injured Promise onto a wagon. Sarah Tarrant recognizes Hannah and offers her shelter, informing her that Joseph Greenleaf will take her back to Boston. From Sarah’s window, Hannah watches the town’s preparations for the British arrival. A Patriot messenger, Major Pedrick, soon arrives with a warning, only to find Salem already alerted to the threat.

Colonel Leslie and his British troops arrive to find the North River drawbridge raised, preventing their advance. The soldiers demand that the bridge be lowered, but the Salem men taunt them from the other side of the river. Tensions escalate as more minutemen arrive behind the British troops, surrounding them. When the British soldiers attempt to seize the gundalows in order to cross the river, fishermen scuttle them. After a soldier pricks a fisherman with a bayonet, the crowd threatens violence. 

However, Parson Barnard negotiates a compromise: The British can proceed only far enough to search the forge. Leslie agrees. The bridge is lowered, but the soldiers find no cannons and are forced to retreat amid jeers from the townspeople. During their withdrawal, an angry soldier aims at Sarah, who taunts them from her window, but another soldier intervenes.

Hannah asks to see Promise, but Sarah suggests waiting. Their conversation is interrupted when Aunt Phoebe, now Mrs. Peter Parley, arrives in search of Hannah. Hannah quickly hides while Sarah misdirects Phoebe, who suspects that Hannah is the one who warned the town and threatens to inform Lydia of this fact. After Phoebe leaves, Hannah expresses her urgent need to return to Boston.

Hannah and Sarah visit Promise at the Samsons’ barn, where Mr. Samson explains that Promise’s leg is badly sprained and that they are treating him with herbal remedies. Hannah tearfully says goodbye to her horse, promising to return. She also meets Mrs. Samson, Will’s mother, who asks about her son. Hannah reassures her about Will’s condition. As they prepare to leave, Joseph arrives to take Hannah back to Boston.

Hannah and Joseph travel to Charlestown and cross to Boston by boat under the cover of darkness. Upon reaching the city, Hannah uses the secret tunnel to enter the Province House grounds undetected. In the stables, she changes out of her disguise, giving Caleb’s jacket and Will’s hat to Caleb to hide. She then joins the servants for breakfast, feigning illness to explain her absence.

During the meal, the servants discuss the events in Salem and rumors about a rider with a distinctive gold-braided tricorn hat who warned the town. Edward, the butler, expresses suspicion that a spy might be operating within the Province House, though Lydia dismisses the idea. As she listens to their conversation, Hannah feels increasingly guilty about betraying General Gage’s hospitality and Meg’s friendship, though she remains committed to the cause of liberty.

Catherine informs Hannah that General Gage is furious about the Salem incident and that Lieutenant Pratt claims to know who warned the town. Hannah visits Meg, who has returned from Lady Ashby’s home. Meg chats about her visit and even offers Hannah some fashionable patches to hide her smallpox scars, unaware of Hannah’s recent dangerous mission.

Later, Catherine tells Hannah that Lieutenant Pratt has identified the Midnight Rider and that an arrest is imminent. Hannah confesses to Catherine that she was the rider who warned Salem. Their conversation is interrupted when they notice activity in the courtyard below. Looking out the window, they watch as a cart arrives carrying Mr. Hubbard and the arrested suspect: Will Samson. Hannah is horrified to see her friend in custody, knowing that he is innocent of the charges against him.

Will is brought before General Gage in the Province House’s public reception room and accused of treason for warning Salem about the British troops. Will pleads his innocence, showing his injured foot, which Dr. Joseph Warren recently treated, as proof that he could not have made the ride. Lieutenant Pratt identifies Promise as the horse involved in the incident, while Mr. Hubbard vouches for Will’s character and gives him an alibi. However, the lieutenant discredits Mr. Hubbard’s testimony.

General Gage reasons that someone must have told Will about the plans for Salem. He demands that Will name his informant, but Will remains silent. General Gage then sentences Will to 40 lashes per day until he confesses. Hannah, unable to let Will suffer for her actions, screams, “No!” and confesses that she was the rider. The crowd erupts in laughter. Desperate to prove her involvement, Hannah runs to the stable and demands “Hans’s” clothes from Caleb. She changes into her disguise and returns to the reception room, again claiming to be the Midnight Rider.

Hannah identifies herself in her own voice, removing the hat to reveal her identity. She explains that she overheard the plans for Salem and rode Promise there to warn the townsfolk. In an attempt to protect Hannah, Will cuts in and claims to be the Midnight Rider. General Gage, still skeptical of Hannah’s claim, orders Hannah to ride his notoriously difficult stallion, Gabriel, as a test of her horsemanship. Despite Mrs. Gage’s protests, Caleb brings the struggling Gabriel into the courtyard.

Hannah approaches the nervous stallion gently, speaking soothingly until she can mount and ride him skillfully around the courtyard. Despite this proof of her abilities, General Gage sentences Will to 40 lashes and Hannah to life imprisonment. Meg protests this harsh judgment, and Mr. Hubbard suggests holding a proper trial. Privately, Mrs. Gage persuades her husband that such severe punishments would only create martyrs and incite rebellion. General Gage reconsiders and instead banishes both Hannah and Will from Boston.

Following the banishment decree, Hannah is shunned by the Province House staff, though Catherine speaks to her privately in their room. Hannah tells Catherine that she will return to Salem and live in her grandfather’s empty house. She puts on her mother’s ring. Catherine promises to care for Gypsy, Hannah’s kitten. Hannah packs her few belongings, including Meg’s ribbons, and waits for Will.

Hannah says goodbye to Caleb in the stable, who promises to visit her in Salem someday. When Will arrives with Mr. Hubbard’s wagon, Hannah dons her mother’s red cloak and prepares to leave. As they depart from the Province House, Meg suddenly dashes out and tearfully embraces Hannah, bidding her farewell and mentioning that she might return to England soon. She promises to remember Hannah forever.

Mr. Hubbard rows Hannah and Will across the Charles River to Charlestown under cover of darkness. There, Deacon Larkin provides them with a horse named Brown Beauty and a cart for their journey to Salem. They travel through the night, with Hannah sleeping fitfully. She prays for Promise throughout their journey.

When they arrive at the Samsons’ farm, Mr. Samson informs them that Promise is alive but very ill; the swelling in his leg has decreased, but he won’t stand and is suffering from colic. Hannah rushes to Promise’s stall and finds him lying down. She speaks lovingly to her horse, reminding him of her promise that they will stay together. When Mr. Samson suggests saying goodbye to the ailing animal, Hannah refuses to give up hope. As they head toward the farmhouse, Mr. Samson calls them back and announces that Promise has risen to his feet, rallying at Hannah’s return.

It is late June, several months after Hannah’s return to Salem. Now living in her saltbox house, Hannah worries about Will, who has gone to Charlestown, and she dreads opening a letter from Catherine that has recently arrived. Sarah Tarrant visits, bringing chicks as a gift. Hannah finally reads Catherine’s letter, which explains that both Caleb and Dr. Joseph Warren have died at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The letter also mentions rumors that Mrs. Gage served as Dr. Warren’s informant, possibly using the iris symbol for messages delivered through Phillis Wheatley. Catherine also announces her engagement to Joseph Greenleaf and plans to visit Hannah, while noting that Meg has departed for England.

Hannah mourns Caleb deeply, and after Sarah leaves, she impulsively bridles Promise and mounts him bareback for the first time since his injury. Will unexpectedly appears on his mother’s mare, Tulip. They share a tender reunion and a kiss, and Will confirms that he was with Caleb during their friend’s last moments. He shares that Caleb’s last words concerned freedom and Hannah, and he says that he buried Caleb himself. After sharing their grief, Hannah and Will race their horses toward the willows by the sea.