Cold Mountain: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

Ada and Ruby have obtained a horse named Ralph, which they’ll use to plow their land. They also set traps to keep the farm safe from scavengers like squirrels and gophers. Ruby tells Ada that she’ll be leading Ralph across the farmland to familiarize the horse with its new plowing route. Ruby is also planning to trade food with Esco.

While Ruby leads Ralph through the farm, Ada makes a scarecrow to protect the crops. She rummages through the house for tools with which to make the scarecrow. Inside, she comes across some of her old clothes, including a dress and a hat Monroe bought her years ago on their trip to Europe. Ada decides that she’ll dress her scarecrow with these things.

Ada sets up the scarecrow, and Ruby comes back from her trading with Esco. In the afternoon, Ada combs Ruby’s dark hair with an old, fine brush. Ada imagines Ruby as a young child—lonely and abandoned by her family. Then Ruby and Ada set themselves a challenge—plaiting each other’s hair. Ruby notices that Ada’s scarecrow is already scaring away birds, and she compliments Ada on her work. Afterwards, Ruby and Ada compare the plaits they’ve made for each other. Ruby assures Ada that she’s done a better job on Ruby’s hair than Ruby has on Ada’s hair.

In the evening, Ada looks at the letter that she’s received from Inman. She has no idea how old the letter is—it could be a few weeks old, or a few months. In it, Inman tells Ada that he’s been wounded in the neck, and that he looks nothing like his former self. This reminds Ada of the photograph of Inman that she owns. Inman gave her this photograph before he went off to war: in the picture, he wears a military uniform, including a jacket and a hat. Ada remembers Inman presenting her with this photograph. He stopped by one afternoon, while Monroe was reading by the fire. Together, Ada and Inman took a walk by a river, talking about Inman’s upcoming military service. Ada couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility that Inman would be killed.

Ada continues remembering her walk with Inman. Inman told her a story about an old Cherokee woman whom Inman met as a child. The Cherokee woman told him that there was once an ancient town near Cold Mountain, called Kanuga. One day, the woman went on, a mysterious stranger came to Kanuga, claiming to be from a place called Shining Rocks. In Shining Rocks, the stranger claimed, life was easy—there was no war, sickness, or suffering of any kind. The stranger advised the people of Kanuga to journey to Shining Rocks, but he also warned them that soon they would be conquered by invaders. Confused, the people of Kanuga decided to journey to Shining Rocks in hope of a better life. When they arrived in Shining Rocks, they found a strange cave, in which there was a bright white light. Confused, the people of Kanuga returned to their home. Soon after, the stranger’s words came true: invaders conquered their land.

When Inman told Ada this story, Ada was unsure how to react—she had no idea what it meant, but could sense that it meant a great deal to Inman. She could tell that Inman was trying to be light and cavalier, even though he felt a strong sense of foreboding about his time in the army. Inman’s final words to Ada that day were, “I’ll see you when I see you.”

When Ada returned to her home after seeing Inman, she found Monroe, still reading by the fire. Ada tried to distract herself by playing the piano and reading, but couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Inman. She had no idea how she’d react if Inman died during the war. She felt guilty for not making more of an effort to understand Inman’s story about Kanuga. That night, she had feverish dreams about Inman’s beautiful body. She was a very inexperienced lover, and had no real idea what men looked like naked, but her imagination filled in the details.

The next day, Ada woke up and went to visit Inman one more time before he left. She found him in his house, polishing his boots. Ada told Inman that she was sorry about the way they left things yesterday. Boldly, she approached him and squeezed his hand. Then they kissed—something they’d both wanted to do yesterday. Before anything else could happen, Ada backed away, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was wearing many layers of clothing: dress, blouse, corset, etc. She repeated Inman’s words, “I’ll see you when I see you.” This was the last time Ada saw Inman. The narrator concludes, “The war turned out to be a longer experience than either had counted on.”