Summary

Chapter 10 picks up at Yonahlossee, where it is a few weeks after Thanksgiving. The Holmes girls and Mr. Holmes greet Thea at her cabin, ready for their riding lesson. The five of them walk to the barn, where Thea readies the horses for the lesson. Mr. Holmes watches Thea instruct his daughters. Later, when Thea is cleaning the horses, Mr. Holmes approaches her and they speak casually. Sissy is excited about Thea’s close relationship with the headmaster and his family.

On Christmas Eve, Thea is the only girl in Augusta House who hasn’t gone home for the holiday. She makes the excuse that Emathla is too far away to travel for the short amount of time. Thea is awake and can’t sleep when she hears someone outside. At first she thinks it’s Boone, but goes outside and finds that it...