"Kidnapped" Vocab: Chapter One

Candidly (candid)- frank, straightforward, open and sincere
The student was very candid in his position on good grades.

Ford- the shallow part of a river that can be crossed by wading
The rich man was upset when he found his shoes ruined from crossing the ford.

Behoves- proper for
It seemed behoved for the child to apologize first, as a sign of respect.

Laird- land proprietor
"That man there," my dad said pointing, "is the owner of many areas. Quite a laird if you ask me."

Smote (smite)- to strike or hit hard
The innocent child was smote upon the head by a bully at school.

Manse- house and land occupied by a minister
The pastor opened the door of his manse, ready for some family love after a long day making the sermon.

Chapter Eight of "Kidnapped"

Then, one night, Ransome drinks too much. Then man running the bar is accused of killing Ransome. At the captain's commands, Davie replaces Ransome in his job. He served the other men on the boat for weeks in which he talked to the Hoseason and Riach a lot. Davie learns that when they reach the Carolinas he will become a white slave.

Chapter Seven of "Kidnapped"

After being kidnapped on the boat, Davie becomes very ill. He lives in a storage area for weeks and if not for a man named Mr. Riach he would have died. Mr. Riach convinces the captain (named Hoseason) to let Davie go to the forecastle (aka the sailors quarters) to heal. Davie spends many weeks in the forecastle talking to Ransome (who drinks too much), Riach (who has no background story), and an old man (who often talked about his family back home).

This chapter is very deep in Davie's thoughts.

Chapter Six of "Kidnapped"

They enter the Inn and Ebenezer talks to the captain. Reluctantly, Davie leaves at his uncle's command. He walks around town for a while before talking to a man at a bar. The man says that Ebenezer has had a horrible past. According to the man Ebenezer killed his brother (aka Davie's dad) to get the inheritance of the House of Shaws. This means that Davie's father was the older brother.

After this shocking talk, Davie talks to the captain again. The captain ask if Davie wants to see his ship and Davie (as he has been wanting to see the ship for quite a while) says yes. However the captain is sneaky and unties the rope as they enter. Davie realizing this screams for help and tries to get off the boat. The captain stops him though by knocking him upside the head. Davie passes out.

Chapter Five of "Kidnapped"

Davie lets his uncle out of his room and they sit down to talk. Davie doesn't get answers to his questions from the night before though because they are soon interupted by a guest. The "lad" at the door is named Ransome and is delivering a message to Ebenezer. The message is from a captian asking if Ebenezer has any buisness over seas. They then leave to go see the captain.

On the way Davie talks to Ransome. He finds out that Ransome works on the captain's ship, the Covenant. Soon they reach the townsquare and Davie see's the Covenant and the hotel where the captain is staying. They head towards the hotel.

Fouth Capter of "Kidnapped"

The rest of the day goes by without much action. However Davie does find a note that confuses him. It is a note that says "To my brother Ebenezer on his 5th birthday" in his father's manly handwriting. Davie has always thought that his father was the younger brother. Obviously something important has not been explained to him.

At supper that night Davie upsets his uncle with talk about the note. Then, Ebenezer seems to sneakily bribe Davie into a favor. Davie is smart and realizes this but still goes out to do the favor. The favor was to go out to a square tower and climb the stairs to the top. At the top there was supposed to be a chest. So off Davie goes, staying close to the wall like his uncle had told him to. But a flash of lightning reveals narrow, uneven stairs. Davie then gets down on his hands and knees and carefully crawls up the stairs, feeling in front of him.

Now at each corner of the tower a landing spot is there to connect the to flights. When Davie gets to one of these turning points he finds that there is no more stair. If he had been on his feet he would have fallen to his death. He then turns and descends the stairs.

Once back at the house Davie finds his uncle having trouble breathing. Davie then administers some medicine and talks to his uncle. He asks his uncle many questions that are only to be answered in the morning. Davie then locks his uncle in his room and goes to sleep.

Third Chapter of "Kidnapped"

The door is opened by the scraggly old man, who directs Davie to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen the old man tells Davie to eat some porridge while they talk. The man asks for the letter that Davie has and Davie (still thinking the man was a servant) refuses. They straighten things out though and Davie finds out that the man (named Ebenezer) is his uncle. After some more talk about Davie's father Ebenezer sends Davie to his dark room.

The next morning, Davie eats breakfast with his uncle. They have a long talk in which Ebenezer almost leaves. Davie has become very aware that his uncle hates him and almost leaves too. However his uncle convinces him to stay.

Second Chapter of "Kidnapped"

The second chapter opens up with Davie only a couple hours away from The House of Shaws. He begins to ask people what direction he should go. However after questioning quite a few people he begins to realize that whoever lives in the House of Shaws is very hated by the townsfolk. Eventually, though, he reaches the mansion and has to pound many times on the door to get someone to answer. A scraggly old man answers through a window and Davie talks to him, thinking he is a servant. This "servant" then disappears to let Davie in.

First Chapter of "Kidnapped"

The book "Kidnapped" starts out with two people talking to each other. It is first person point of view so one of the characters talking is also telling the story. The main character's name is David (or Davie as he is often called). Davie's father has recently passed and Davie is preparing to move out. He is talking to a good family friend about where he should go. The friend (named Mr. Campbell) gives Davie a letter saying that Davie is realted to whoever owns the House of Shaws. Davie is then given a present from Mr. Campbell and heads off towards towards The House of Shaws.