Summary

Ren awakens to the sound of Benjamin Nab's attaching a cart to the farmer’s horse. He realizes that Benjamin is stealing from the farmer and notices that he feels the same “quickening of blood” that he used to feel when he stole from Saint Anthony’s. However, Ren only stole small things from the monastery and expects to be punished far worse for stealing a man’s horse and cart. He wishes he could stay behind and live with the farmer and his wife, but he knows that they will not want him. Benjamin and Ren speed away, and Ren catches a glimpse of the farmer’s wife as she walks to the barn to milk the cow.

The sun begins to rise. Ren, who was usually forced to say ten Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys when he was caught stealing, begins praying. Benjamin Nab tells him that they are not stealing; they are “borrowing, with good intent.” He explains to Ren that praying will not help and that, though Ren was “raised with a certain set of rules,” he will “be forced to break them” if he wants to survive. He then tells Ren that he is not his brother and pulls out a gun, though he assures Ren that he will not hurt him. Benjamin reveals that he chose Ren for a reason: the boy’s missing hand will “open wallets faster than any gun.” Benjamins offers Ren the option of jumping out of the cart, but then he asks Ren what he wants more than anything. Ren replies that he wants a family, but Benjamin tells him to stop being “simple minded.” Ren decides that he wants an orange, and Benjamin assures him that he can get him one. Benjamin offers Ren his hand, and Ren notices a freckle in the middle of his palm that is a “mark of good fortune.” Ren shakes his hand.

Benjamin and Ren finally reach Granston, a busy harbor town. They weave through crowds on the docks, where fishermen bring their catches and merchants unload goods from their ships. Benjamin walks the horse away from the water and towards the temporary housing where fishermen, sailors, and soldiers stay. Ren, who has never seen the ocean or anything like Granston before, notices two women in low-cut bodices and painted faces talking to a soldier. Benjamin stops at a building that looks like it has been deserted after a fire. A portly man with a thick red beard lets them inside, and they walk down to a cellar where he has been living. The man—whose name is Tom—is unhappy that Benjamin brought Ren, but Benjamin insists that Ren is a “gold mine” because people will let their guards down out of pity for a boy who is missing a hand.

While Benjamin unhitches the horse, Tom empties Ren’s pockets and finds The Secret Lives of the Saints , which he wants to sell. He directs Ren to open a suitcase that is sitting in the corner of the room. Ren finds that it is full of small glass bottles with labels that say “Doctor Faust’s Medical Salts for Pleasant Dreams.” Benjamin, who has just returned, asks if there are any left, and Tom says that the rest of the bottles—which contain high concentrations of opium—belong to the state of New Hampshire. Benjamin suggests diluting the bottles, but Tom does not want to resume selling them yet. However, everyone is hungry, so Benjamin suggests that they go fishing. Tom confesses that he sold their shovel in order to buy whiskey. Ren asks why they need a...