Cold Mountain

Ada Monroe tries to write a letter to Inman. Displeased with her words, she abandons the letter. Ada is distracted and in the throes of despair. Her father died several months earlier and, since then, she has struggled to run the farm that he left to her. Ada is “perpetually hungry” (25), so much so that she must crawl through a hedge to find an egg. The chicken wounds Ada, who laments her current state while tending to her wound. She has almost lost her will to carry on. She grew up in relatively privileged surroundings in Charleston, so “the hardness of work” (27) is unfamiliar to her.

Hours later, still hungry, Ada visits her father’s grave. After, she goes to the post office and then to her neighbors’ house. She hopes that her neighbors might take pity on her and offer her some food. Her neighbors, Sally and Esco Swanger, welcome her to their home. Together, they sit on the porch and share the latest news about the war, Captain Teague and his violent Home Guard, and the signs that the coming winter will be tough. Ada admits that she is now considering a return to Charleston. Esco Swanger offers a means to reach a decision: She should hold a mirror to her face while leaning backward over a well, which will allow her to see into the future.

Ada follows Esco’s advice. She is shocked when she sees a “black silhouette of a figure” (45) moving with firm resolution behind her. As well as this strange vision, Ada is caught by the sense that she should either follow or wait. Sally gives food to Ada, who departs for home. She stops her journey, however, when she reaches the ridgetop. She looks down on her property and remembers the first time she came to Black Cove with her father. Six years have passed. She thinks about what has happened to her ever since. Remembering her letter, collected early from the post office, she opens the envelope. The letter informs her that she is nearly broke, “at least until the war’s successful conclusion” (57). Later, Ada falls asleep while reading a book.

Ada wakes up. Night has fallen and she thinks about her dream, in which she believes she was told that her time in Charleston is over. Ada stays up, reflecting on what she should do. She decides to stay at Black Cove but she does not know how she will get by.

The following morning, a “girl of sorts” (62) named Ruby Thewes appears at her door, sent to her by the Swangers. Ruby offers to help Ada; she has many plans on how to revitalize the farm. If they succeed, Ruby says, then the farm will produce more than enough to sustain them.

Inman continues his journey amid a storm. His slow, labored progress displeases him. The terrain and the insects are bad, but he is mostly concerned about the Home Guards, the military unit that searches for deserters like Inman. Considering his options, he enters a small town to purchase food.

As he leaves the town, a trio of men attacks Inman. He fights back, freeing himself, and runs into the woods, reciting one of Swimmer’s spells and a sermon preached by Ada’s father, Monroe, the first day he met her. Though many of the local men were struck by Ada’s beauty, he was the first to approach her. Their first conversation is stilted, but he provides a “useful purpose” (79) by clarifying the local dialect.

That night, Inman arrives at the Cape Fear River. Since the river is so wide, he will need help to cross. A sign tells him that a ferry is available. When Inman calls out, however, the only person to appear is a young woman in a canoe. She paddles Inman across the river but, just as they set off from the bank, the trio of men reappears. They fire shots at the canoe, which is damaged. Using the damaged canoe as cover, Inman and the woman reach the far shore. Inman follows the orders from the woman but he is pained by the wound in his neck, which has reopened amid the chaos.

Inman is a skilled survivalist. He recalls the rifle that he noticed beside one of his attackers; he matches this to the gun that shot at the canoe. Inman secures his possessions, protecting them from the water, and continues his journey according to the directions provided to him by the young woman.

Ruby immediately surveys the farm and plans to restore it to a state in which it can support her and Ada, who feels tired just listening to Ruby outline her ideas. She proceeds with everything Ruby suggests, however, even agreeing to swap her piano for essential supplies, since it is one of the few items that is “valuable and portable and inessential” (91) for survival. They trade it to a man named Old Joe, who comes to collect the piano. Seeing him take it away, Ada has no regrets. She remembers playing the piano during a Christmas party that was held before the war broke out. She was with Inman at the party. The memory prompts her to think that she might still have a bottle of champagne in the basement. When she searches for the bottle, however, she finds coffee beans instead. Having gone so long without actual coffee, the beans are “a genuine treasure” (98) that can also be bartered for essentials.

Weeks pass by. Ada and Ruby settle into a routine, with Ruby taking charge and Ada helping as she is told. In the evenings, they relax. Ada reads to Ruby until the dark falls, at which point Ruby begins telling stories from her life. She also tells stories about her father. Ruby had a difficult childhood. She grew up poor and neglected, not knowing her mother. Ruby’s father, Stobrod Thewes, had a reputation in the community as being a good-for-nothing who drank heavily. Practically as soon as she could walk, Ruby needed to stand up for herself. She was often left alone for days and even weeks.

She remembers being surprised when her father signed up to fight in the war. She has heard “nothing from him since” (105). Someone in his regiment, however, is unaccounted for. Ruby does not miss her father. Instead, she is still angry that he took many important items when he left, leaving her to fend for herself. Ruby assumes her age to be about 21. She wants to lift herself out of poverty.