- Noah's letters from Camp Dunlap, up by Jacksonville, tell of an army laid low by dysentery, with no uniforms or weapons. Fun times.
- Later, Dr. Hutchings volunteers as a doctor at Camp Defiance in Cairo, where Noah's regiment is sent.
- He keeps the town posted, though not with good news—half the soldiers in Cairo are down with the measles and the other half are drunk.
- One night, Mama goes mad with fear for Noah.
- Tilly hears something in the kitchen and gets up to investigate. She finds Mama, who in turn orders her to find Noah and bring him home.
- Though she tries to argue that the army won't let her have Noah even if she can find him, Mama won't hear of it; she's a completely changed woman.
- Calinda comes down, too, and immediately starts making cures to pack. She tells Tilly she will stay behind while Delphine heads off with her to find Noah.
- The girls prepare to leave for several days, making tons of food to carry and packing medicines, quilts, and all of Delphine's clothes, which she can't do without, not even in the middle of a war.
- The night before they leave, Calinda reads her cards, refusing to let anyone else see, though she tells Delphine something. Huh…