Outlawed

Ada’s mother sends her to a convent, where the nuns put her on a six-month Bible study before she can take her vows. In private, Ada cries over her lost life; she misses her sisters and feels the deep pain of Ulla’s betrayal. She worries that the town will blame her sisters or even her mother for the supposed witchcraft now that Ada is away. Ada soon learns that all of the other young women in the convent have similar stories: After losing babies or not getting pregnant, they were driven out of town—sometimes by their own parents.

Although Ada doesn’t always feel comfortable at the convent, she is able to use the well-supplied library. Ada wants an answer to why some women get pregnant while others can’t—one based in science instead of religion and superstition. Ada asks the librarian, Sister Tom, for more books. To earn the books, Ada helps Sister Tom with her own book, which Ada is shocked but intrigued to discover is about abortions. Abortions are highly illegal, so Ada worries that helping Sister Tom will get her into trouble, but she is also fascinated by what she learns. This is the beginning of Ada’s criminal career.

Eventually, Ada receives a copy of the Handbook of Feminine Complaints by Alice Schaeffer, an experienced midwife who writes about possibly biological reasons for infertility. Learning that Alice Schaeffer conducts experiments in Pagosa Springs, Ada wants to meet Alice and submit herself for experimentation.

Ada goes to the Mother Superior for permission and support to get to Pagosa Springs. Ada wants to learn more about infertility in the hopes of someday saving countless infertile women. The Mother tells Ada about a similar dream: Years ago, she and two other Sisters formed a school for children from the countryside. She had hoped through the school, the community could come to accept barren women like the nuns and that children would grow up not fearing them, but seeing them as their teachers. After only a few months, the Mother and the two Sisters were arrested and imprisoned for five years. The Mother Superior warns Ada that “Knowledge can be very valuable […] but only if people want it. If they don’t, it can be worse than useless” (43). The Mother goes on to tell Ada that she has two choices: Stay at the convent and become a nun or go to high country, to the Hole in the Wall Gang. The entire region has heard of the Hole in the Wall—a group of robbers and outlaws led by a fearsome man named the Kid. Several years ago, a young man came to the convent looking for sanctuary and the nuns named him the Kid. Ever since giving him help, the nuns at the convent have had a connection to Hole in the Wall. The Kid will welcome whomever they send.

Ada begins her journey to Hole in the Wall hidden in a wagon filled with hundreds of books, driven by the convent’s bookseller. The bookseller learns that someone named Sheriff Branch is offering money for a witch named Ada. Ada convinces the bookseller not to give her up. Eventually they arrive at Ada’s drop-off location. The Gang doesn’t allow the bookseller to go further, so Ada must figure out how to get the rest of the way to Hall in the Wall on her own. After what seems like hours of groping through darkness, Ada hears a fiddle and comes across a large fire. Two women are kissing against a tree, another couple dances near the fire, and a man lounges wearing the Colorado pinch-front hat that the Kid is fabled to own. A woman named Agnes Rose grabs Ada by the wrist and reveals her to the rest of the group. The Kid assures them that he had been expecting her, to which another woman named Cassie argues that they can’t afford to take on another person. The Kid declares that Ada is only a guest, and that they’ll decide what to do with her the next day. He quotes the Bible and welcomes Ada generously. He seems kinder than what Ada had expected, given his bad reputation.

When Ada awakens the next morning, the group is more subdued and plainly dressed than the night before. They give her breakfast and ask about her skills. Though she can’t shoot or ride horses, Ada had midwifery and healing training, so the group takes her on. At 18 years old in the year 1894, Ada becomes a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang.

A woman named Texas teaches her how to ride horses, and Ada surprises everyone—including herself—with how quickly she learns how to tame and control them. Ada develops a special bond with a horse named Amity, who knows the land well. Texas shows Ada the area on horseback, and Ada learns how to recognize the jarring landscapes. Texas also shows Ada “the hole in the wall,” a natural rock formation that gives ample viewing space and coverage to defend against an attack. All Texas knows about the Gang’s origin story is that when Cassie and the Kid got married, they for some reason began robbing people, then stagecoaches, then banks for money.

Once Ada can ride well, a woman named Elzy, whom Ada had seen kissing Cassie against the tree her first night with the Gang, teaches Ada how to shoot a gun. Ada enjoys learning how to shoot and appreciates the power she feels when she holds the gun. During their shooting lessons, Elzy tells Ada that most of the others learned how to shoot from their fathers. Ada never really knew her father. Elzy also tells Ada that the Kid learned from her husband, jarring Ada into confusion about who the Kid and the Group really are. Elzy reminds Ada that she’s not the only woman who had to escape because of her barrenness, and Ada realizes that she has found yet another subversive community of infertile women or women uninterested in bearing children.

Lo, a former actress kicked out of her traveling troupe, trains Ada how to dress, stand, and fight like a man. When an opportunity to rob a stagecoach comes up, Ada volunteers to go. Agnes Rose crops Ada’s hair in preparation. Though she doesn’t know what to expect, the Gang’s confidence buoys Ada.