The Chrysalids: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

That night, a “horseman” finds the fugitives and shoots arrows at them. He misses, but Rosalind shoots his horse and he is thrown to the ground. The injured horse runs away, while Rosalind, David, and Petra venture into the Wild Country. As they ride, the woman from Zealand contacts Petra, who translates her thoughts to the rest of the group. The woman says that Petra is extremely important and must be kept safe at all costs. The woman expresses surprise that Petra lives in a “primitive” community—a sentiment that angers and confuses the rest of the group. The woman also promises to send help.

The next day, Michael warns the fugitives that the search teams have found their trail. Everyone in the group is also worried about the safety of Katherine and Sally, because no one can get in touch with them. They fear that Katherine and Sally might have been tortured to the point of death or insanity. Michael interprets this to mean that the authorities are terrified by the ability to think-talk, and are willing to do anything to understand and control it. He tells David that it would be better for him to kill Petra and Rosalind than let them fall into the hands of their enemies.

Petra overhears Michael’s message to David and does not understand why anyone would want to hurt her when she is not hurting anyone else. David explains to her that fear makes people angry and violent, and that their enemies are motivated by a “feel-thing not a think-thing.”

While Rosalind and David sleep, Petra talks to the woman from Zealand and learns that almost everyone there can think-together. The woman tells Petra that she believes Petra can make more powerful think-pictures than anyone else in the world. She also tells Petra that people in Zealand feel sorry for those who cannot think-together because they will forever be “one-at-a-times.” David remembers his conversation with Uncle Axel about the impossibility of knowing what the true Image of God really is. That night, David, Petra, and Rosalind are discovered and shot at. Their horses bolt, taking them into the forest. Something falls from a tree and crushes David in his basket.