The River Between Us Chapter 8 Summary

  • The Pruitt family prepares to go see the showboat show and dance.
  • Calinda and Delphine dress up Cass and Tilly in Delphine's clothes and put combs in Mama's hair.
  • On the showboat, they listen to music, see a play about Abe Lincoln, and watch a minstrel show.
  • When the stage is cleared for dancing, Noah waltzes with Delphine while Dr. Hutchings dances with Tilly.
  • One of the fiddlers recognizes Calinda from New Orleans and convinces her to dance the Calinda. See, as it turns out, Calinda's real name is CoinCoin, but she earned herself a nickname by being the best Calinda dancer in New Orleans.
  • At the end of the chapter, we skip to September, when Noah leaves for the war the day after his and Tilly's 16th birthday.