After work, Chuck and Miranda attend a show she must cover for the paper. Everybody has a lot to say, but none of them manages to say how they really feel about the war and their roles in it. Later, at work, Miranda discusses the war with her work friends Towney and Chuck Rouncivale. The outing is romantic, but Miranda is troubled by an increasing fear that she is growing ill and by her inability to fully connect and relate to Adam. The two walk to lunch, where they discuss the war and the flu. Adam surprises Miranda by waiting outside her door. Adam, a young soldier, moved into Miranda’s building the week before and the two have seen each other nonstop over the past 10 days. The narrative shifts back to the present, where Miranda wraps up her bath and daydreams about Adam Barclay, her love interest.

She remembers what occurred yesterday after the committeemen left: Mary Townsend (Towney) and Miranda anguished over what could be done to them for not buying bonds, and Miranda left work to visit the wounded soldiers in the hospital-a task she dreads and finds phony and forced. She has a horrible headache and thinks back at what might have caused it. The narrative jumps forward as Miranda is back home, exhausted and relaxing in the bath.

Miranda refuses to buy one and is tempted to reject the war entirely. The men confront Miranda and harass her for not purchasing a Liberty Bond to support the war effort. At the office, there are two Lusk Committeemen (temporary government employees who ensure loyalty during wartime) waiting for her at her desk.

Miranda goes to work at the newspaper office where she is employed as a drama critic. Miranda wakes from her troubling dream to a reality equally as troubling: the world is in the midst of World War I and the influenza pandemic. Miranda dreams of a familiar bed, a familiar house, and a familiar “stranger.” On a gray horse, she embarks on a journey to escape Death and the Devil and the stranger rides beside her on his own gray horse.

Book pale horse pale rider