I Survived the American Revolution, 1776

The second chapter jumps back to July 11, 1776 (seven weeks earlier). Nate lives in Norwalk, Connecticut with his uncle, Uriah Storch, who was assigned to be Nate’s caretaker after the death of Nate’s Papa two years ago. Nate is working in the garden when he overhears Storch discussing the Revolutionary War with his friend, Mr. Marston. While most people in Connecticut support General George Washington and consider themselves to be Patriots, “Storch and his pal [are] on England’s side” (6). They are Loyalists who are against Washington and his troops.

Nate grows weary of gardening under the hot sun and wanders off to Long Island Sound to watch the ships sailing by. His mom died several years before due to illness, and after that, “Nate grew up crisscrossing the ocean with Papa and his crews” (7). Nate loved his time at sea, and whenever Storch treats him harshly, he still imagines that Papa is still out there somewhere. In reality, Nate’s Papa perished when he fell overboard during an intense storm. Nate’s best friend from the voyage, a scrappy, red-haired teenager named Paul Dobbins, promised to keep in touch with Nate after Papa’s death. However, in the two years that have passed, Nate has never heard from Paul. Now, Nate’s reminiscing is suddenly broken when he feels someone poke him in the back and tell him to get back to work.

The voice behind Nate turns out to be Theo, the three-year-old son of Eliza, a woman who is enslaved by Storch. Theo is playing pirate, waving a “spindly stick from the cherry tree” (11) as his sword. Nate and Theo play for a moment before Eliza hears their laughter and comes out to quiet them. She tries her best to keep Theo quiet and out of trouble because she fears that Storch will sell Theo just as he sold her husband a few months ago. Storch orders Eliza to serve dessert, and she leaves Theo with Nate. Theo asks Nate to tell him a pirate story about “Slash O’Shea, the greatest living pirate” (14). Nate’s Papa used to tell him stories about Slash’s adventures on the sea, particularly how he would give his treasure away to poor orphans. Nate convinces Theo to listen to a sea shanty instead, in hopes of calming him down. The plan works, and Theo falls asleep soon after hearing the pirate tune.

Nate returns to the garden and overhears Storch asserting that the war will be over soon. Storch tells Marston that “[t]he king sent hundreds of ships. The big battle is coming any day. Washington and his army of traitors will soon be crushed” (15). Nate remembers when his Papa used to discuss King George and the high taxes on the colonies. Now, Nate is less concerned with the outcome of the war because it is hard for him to imagine that his life, Eliza’s, or Theo’s will improve, regardless of who wins. Nate turns around to check on Theo, and to his horror, he realizes that the boy is no longer napping in the grass. Instead, he has acquired a walking stick to use as a sword. Theo spins around with the makeshift weapon and trips, sending the stick flying. Nate watches in terror as the walking stick lands on Storch’s head.

Nate worries about what will happen to Theo, but then he realizes that Storch never saw who hit him. He decides to “trick Storch into thinking someone else had thrown the stick” (20), so he tells Theo to go hide and walks to his uncle to apologize. If he can convince Storch that he is the culprit, not Theo, then maybe Theo won’t be sold.

Nate’s idea works. Storch believes him and furiously slaps Nate across the face, then starts to strangle him. For a moment, Nate fears that Storch will kill him. In a final act of desperation, Nate hits Storch on the head with his fist, causing the man to lose his grip. Eliza tells him to run, and Nate flees into the woods.

It is now July 12, 1776, just before dawn. Nate stays hidden in the woods for hours, trying to decide what to do. He left without any money or food, so he will have to return home eventually. Then he remembers the origin story of the pirate Slash O’Shea, who ran away at age 10 and began a new life as a cabin boy on a ship. Nate knows that he is young, but so was Slash. He reasons that he is “bigger and taller than most eleven-year-olds. And Papa had taught him to work harder than sailors twice his age” (26).

He plans to steal away on a ship bound for New York City, which is home to “one of the busiest harbors in the colonies” (26). A few hours later, he arrives at the harbor and stows away on the Valerie, one of the ships there. From his hiding place among the cargo, he can feel the ship leaving the harbor, and his excitement grows as he anticipates the new life waiting for him in New York.