"Half my roll disappeared in one bite. It was the first decent food I'd had since Jenny's kitchen. Curzon watched me without saying a word. When I licked the butter off my fingers, he gave me his roll.
'I et a large breakfast,' he said."
Isabel finds her greatest ally in Curzon. He takes pity on her because of her youth and inexperience and all around misfortune. The two become best friends after he selflessly shares his roll. It just took a small act to bring them together.
"'We thought you were in London, Elihu.'
'London? Never!' exclaimed Lockton. 'England offers us nothing but taxes, stamps, and bloodshed.'
'How odd. Word from Boston is that you still lick the King's boots.'"
Elihu Lockton is the biggest traitor of all of them. After first condemning the patriots for their disloyalty to the king, he eventually finds himself turning coat under pressure. He feigns disgust for Britain to save his own neck and his wealth, but the soldiers aren't fooled. It takes Lockton's aunt's influence to save him.
"Poppa fought like a lion when they came for him, the strongest lion, roaring; it took five of them with hickory clubs, and then Momma fainted, and I caught baby Ruth and then there was lion's blood on the ground, mixed with the dust like the very earth was bleeding."
Isabel seems to have inherited her parents' bravery. Both of them were slaves who were murdered after trying to escape. Just a child at the time, Isabel doesn't remember their deaths very well, but she paints a gripping tale of it for those who ask. She uses her memories of them and their courage to inspire her to take risks in order to earn her freedom and to protect her sister.
"'Two words: "ad astra." It's Latin; it means "to the stars." Will you be able to remember it?'
'I never forget a thing, sir.'"
Isabel proves her worth to the patriot cause mostly due to her impeccable memory. She's the sort of girl who knows her strengths and weaknesses and focuses on self improvement. When she spots the opportunity for freedom in exchange for a little espionage for the rebel cause, she jumps at it. She delivers on her promises too, even though the patriots aren't able to free her in the end.
