# The Flight in the Heather: The Moor explained — Kidnapped

> Chapter companion for Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

## What happens

David and Alan continue their desperate flight across the moor, enduring extreme fatigue and the constant threat of capture by redcoats. They decide to risk crossing the open heath by daylight, crawling and stooping to avoid detection. After a brief rest, they are ambushed by Cluny Macpherson's sentries, who take them to the chief's hideout. David, exhausted and delirious, is carried by the Highlanders as they journey deeper into Ben Alder.

## Themes in this chapter

### Survival and Resilience

David and Alan push through extreme physical exhaustion and danger, crawling across the moor and enduring hunger, thirst, and the threat of capture.

### Friendship and Comradeship

Alan's encouragement and offer to carry David, as well as their mutual reliance, highlight the deepening bond between them despite David's momentary resentment.

## Character check-ins

### David Balfour

David is near collapse from exhaustion, experiencing hallucinations and a sense of despair, yet he continues to follow Alan's lead.

### Alan Breck Stewart

Alan shows remarkable endurance and resolve, encouraging David and even offering to carry him. He is delighted by David's determination and later refreshed after a brief sleep.

### Cluny Macpherson

Cluny is still in Scotland, hidden by his clan, and his sentries capture Alan and David, bringing them to his hideout.

## Key lines

> There are whiles when ye are altogether too canny and Whiggish to be company for a gentleman like me; but there come other whiles when ye show yoursel' a mettle spark; and it's then, David, that I love ye like a brother.

Sometimes you're too cautious and proper for my taste, but other times you show real spirit, and that's when I feel a brotherly affection for you.

_Alan expresses his admiration for David's courage in deciding to press on despite the risks._

> I had no care of my life, neither past nor future, and I scarce remembered there was such a lad as David Balfour. I did not think of myself, but just of each fresh step which I was sure would be my last, with despair—and of Alan, who was the cause of it, with hatred.

I was so exhausted that I lost all sense of self and time, focusing only on each agonizing step and feeling hatred toward Alan for dragging me into this ordeal.

_David's extreme fatigue leads to a moment of resentment toward Alan, despite their friendship._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/kidnapped_se/chapters/xxii-the-flight-in-the-heather-the-moor
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/kidnapped_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/kidnapped_se/chapters