Chapter Twenty-One Summary

Thomas and Joan have moved to Stamford, as Will suggested. Will is working the land and Anneke is again Bess's close friend. They organize a harvest festival to fall on Halloween, and invite the entire village for a feast with dancing and singing. Interrupting the festivities, Thomas Lyon and Reverend Mr. Bishop arrive with an injunction and a letter signed by Robert Feake, discounting his earlier letter that granted all of his possessions to Bess and Will. With the help of their neighbors, they rejected the injunction and sent the men away, since they had no jurisdiction in Dutch territory to serve an injunction. In the process of reading Thomas's letter from John Winthrop, Bess is grief-stricken to learn that Margaret has passed away.

Bess becomes pregnant, and they pass the winter peacefully, selling some of their land. Toby has named...