Chains Chapter 23 Summary

Monday, July 15, 1776

  • Isabel is imprisoned in the stocks as a man next to her begins to heat the irons for her branding over a fire. A crowd gathers to watch her punishment, just as they gathered to watch the hanging; Isabel sheds tears of embarrassment and fear.
  • To distract herself, she thinks of her old life in Rhode Island with Momma and Ruth. None of these thoughts, though, can take away the jeering crowd and the sizzling of the irons on her cheek. When it's over, she imagines Momma and Poppa's ghosts coming to comfort her and shower her burned face with tears.