Dread Nation

That night, Jane dreams of Rose Hill. She remembers how her mother was “an unusual woman” who had a big heart for her Black workers and Black families in general. Jane claims that her mother would buy “the runaways; the dullards; the cheapest” (137), then set them up with respectable work, kind treatment, and wages. Jane remembers one worker named Rachel, however, who complained that Jane’s mother wasn’t a proper lady. Rachel always had something nasty to say about Jane’s mother and her alleged “penchant for field hands” (137) that resulted in Jane being born. Most of all, Rachel believed that “there was a hierarchy that should be followed: field workers, house slaves, mistress, and master” (140), and that people like Jane’s mother disrupted the “natural order” of things by being benevolent to her workers. Rachel swore that there would “be a reckoning when the major” (141) returned from the war, and Jane’s mother would have to face her husband. Jane calls Rachel “the woman that almost got her and her mother killed, she believes that dreaming about Rachel is an ill omen of what is to come at the mayor’s house.

Jane and Katherine are fitted with Attendants’ attire for the dinner, although Jane is still suspicious that Mr. Redfern and Miss Anderson will kill them because of what they know about the Spencers’ strange disappearance. Katherine is excited at the thought of getting to dress up and look like proper ladies for the dinner, but Jane is distrustful, asking Katherine if she doesn’t think there’s anything strange about the timing of the mayor’s invitation. Katherine dismisses Jane’s concerns. Jane remembers a dinner party from when she was a little girl at Rose Hill, and how her mother asked her to read a few Bible passages. The major was livid at the thought that his wife had taught a Black child how to read. Jackson appears injured at the barrier and explains that was sneaking around Mayor Carr’s estate and was caught, but he won’t give up until he knows what happened to Lily and the Spencers. Katherine tells Jackson that she and Jane will be at the mayor’s house tomorrow night, and Jackson begins to concoct a plan to sneak into the estate with their help.

On the night of the dinner at the mayor’s house, Jane thinks of how Katherine helped her do her hair, and she believes that she and Katherine “are becoming friends” (154). The mayor’s estate is grand, beautiful, and adorned with new electric lights. Miss Duncan and Miss Anderson accompany Jane and Katherine, and Mr. Redfern meets them there. Jane notices that Mr. Redfern looks at her like he wants to use her as “shambler bait” (157). Jane also notices that Jackson has snuck onto the premises dressed like a servant. Jane feels a pang of homesickness as she watches the preparations for dinner, and she wonders if her mother is still alive and why she hasn’t written in so long.

Katherine tells Jane that she learned that most Attendants were dismissed for running away at the lecture. During dinner, Jane tries to strike up a conversation with Mr. Redfern, but he gives minimal answers and tells her that he doesn’t like her because she’s “arrogant and self-important” (164). Suddenly, Jane notices that one of the dinner attendees is showing the signs of turning into a shambler. Jane grabs Mr. Redfern’s blade and kills the man before he can attack anyone at the table. The dinner guests and hosts are disgusted, and Miss Anderson and Miss Duncan look at Jane as if she has made a grave mistake.

To Jane’s disbelief, the mayor briefly thanks her for her intervention, then announces the end of dinner. As the men and women head for their separate post-dinner indulgences, Jane asks Miss Anderson why no one seems concerned. Miss Anderson is dismissive and orders Jane and Katherine to join the women in the salon, but the girls suspect that the man was bitten within the very walls of the mayor’s estate. Katherine leaves to join the women while Jane looks for the bathroom, but along the way, Jane runs into Jackson. They go snooping through the mayor’s belongings, looking for any sign of what might have happened to Lily and the Spencers. They discover a ledger with the word “SUMMERLAND” (174) written on the front. Miss Anderson appears in the doorway pointing a gun at them. She explains that Summerland is a frontier town in Kansas, then says that the mayor is expecting them.

Miss Anderson brings Jane and Jackson to the mayor, who is waiting for them in a secret part of the estate. Miss Anderson suggests turning Jane and Jackson into shambler bait, but the mayor refuses, saying that they are “smarter than they have any right to be,” and he thinks “they’d be useful in Summerland” (179). Miss Preston is also in the room, and Jane realizes that the headmistress is involved in this scheme with the mayor. Miss Preston says that Katherine will also need to go to Summerland, because “she is too pretty for any respectable woman to hire on as a companion” (180). She states that Katherine came from “a house of ill repute” (180), so perhaps Katherine could work in Summerland as a prostitute.

Jane realizes that Miss Preston has been supplying girls for Summerland for years, and the mayor explains that they “need to start over again” (182) in a place like Summerland, away from the shamblers. Mayor Carr admits that the Spencers went to Summerland, but he claims that it was of their own free will. Katherine is brought into the office, and the mayor explains that she, Jane, and Jackson will be put on a train to Summerland the next morning. Jane feels hopeless.