Sophia sets out to explain the events that Hale’s hanging set off. She begins with details about her brother. She and William have always been close. Sophia loved learning about the patriot effort from William. He was smart and curious and had just started at King’s College when the war began. William taught Sophia about the loyalist and patriot causes and gave her relevant literature to read. Excited about the prospect of independence, Sophia was proud when William joined the patriots with the encouragement of his friend John Paulding. Not long after, Hale was captured by the British and discovered to be a spy. His fate would come to mean a lot to Sophia.

Sophia and Molly walk the rest of the way home in silence. They pass the prison, Bridewell, and ask after William—afraid he may have been captured in the Brooklyn battle. Soldiers turn them away without answers.

From there, they return home. The house looks ransacked. Sophia’s father’s study is in disarray. He works as a scrivener for Mr. Rivington and Mr. Gaine, who respectively publish the Gazette and the Mercury. Sophia and Molly start cleaning up, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

A group of British soldiers is at the door. They push in, demanding to know where Hiram is. When he returns home, they want him to officially declare his allegiance to the Crown. Then they inform Molly and Sophia that they will soon be housing a British soldier. They demand that the women clear out the upstairs rooms for their imminent boarder. After they leave, Sophia worries about the type of man who will move in with them.

Sophia continues to worry about her father’s safety on his way home and William’s whereabouts. After she and Molly finish cleaning, they head back out to the prison in search of William but receive no answers. On the way home, Sophia marvels at the ramshackle state of the city, recent battles having made it nearly unrecognizable.

That night, Sophia lies in bed worrying over Hiram and William. She can’t stop thinking about Nathan Hale’s hanging either. Finally, she says a prayer for her family’s safety.

The next day, Sophia tries to distract herself from her worry by cleaning the house and visiting some friends. However, the altered neighborhood unsettles her. Later that night, she hides in her bed after curfew, still worrying over Hiram.

Suddenly, a sound at the door startles her and Molly to attention. They are shocked to see Hiram outside, and troubled when they discover he was shot on his way home. Panicked over Hiram’s wound, Molly sends Sophia to fetch Dr. Dastuge.

Sophia creeps through the dark, quiet streets, terrified of being caught. When she is stopped by British soldiers, she explains that she is getting the doctor for her father who has a fever; she doesn’t want to tell them he was shot lest they suspect her family of being patriots. The soldiers guide her to Dr. Dastuge’s and back home.

Sophia is relieved when the soldiers do not enter the house and see her father’s gunshot wound. Inside, Dr. Dastuge tends Hiram’s wound. Afterwards, Sophia tells Molly how hard it felt to lie to the soldiers. They also discuss Hiram’s condition and the impossibility of him returning to work. Sophia agrees to visit the print shops tomorrow to inform his employers.

Before sending Sophia back to bed, Molly reminds her that the only people she should trust are members of her family.

Sophia sets out to see Mr. Rivington and Mr. Gaine the next day. Mr. Rivington’s shop is closed, but Sophia encounters a young boy named James working at Mr. Gaine’s shop. He promises to pass the message on to Mr. Gaine that Sophia was there.

On the walk home, Sophia encounters a band of patriot prisoners being taken to Bridewell. She is horrified to discover that the provost leading the prisoners is the same brutish man she saw at Hale’s hanging; an onlooker tells her his name is Provost Cunningham. She hopes he is not her family’s new boarder.

Later that same day, a British soldier called John André arrives at the Calderwood’s. He is their new boarder.

Sophia is immediately taken by his good looks and charm. John André is kind to Molly and respectful towards Hiram, too. Later, when John André asks Sophia in private if she is “an only child” (50), Sophia says yes. She does not want him to know her brother is a patriot. She informs her parents of this after John André steps out, and they agree to uphold this lie.

Over the following weeks, the Calderwoods settle back into life in New York as best they can. Hiram starts to heal, but slowly. He still cannot return to work. The family worries about money. They haven’t heard any news of William either.

Meanwhile, however, Sophia starts to form a relationship with John André. She knows he is a British soldier and a loyalist, but he is always so kind and attentive to her. He even plays his flute for her, sketches a picture of her, and gives her a blue ribbon for her hair.