Luke says, looking around for a fallen tree limb. Nobody is on our side on this island. He draws a deep breath and shuts his eyes. Luke imagines that he has passed out, but Toby opens his eyes quickly and draws his hand across his brow in a deliberate way that suggests he is feeling mental pain as well. That's what John Wesley told us.
Toby laughs bitterly.
Well, Luke, I wish I had never been born into this world. It's rotten through and through, but you don't know how rotten it is until you try to make some sense of it. Do you realize that I'm a greater threat to the colonials than the Brits are. But as they take their first steps, they hear a thump of running feet and the swish and snap of brush being parted. They are quickly surrounded by a group of colonials, men so utterly without military bearing, clothing, or discipline, they look like a band of outlaws.