Whereas Part I of AL:VH is action-packed, Part II seems to be more about setting up what we know comes next, giving us a feeling that "some great calamity awaits us" (p. 204). During this time, Abe finds allies in the Clary Grove Boys, especially Jack Armstrong. The two of them become friends and partner up to hunt vampires. Abe also falls in love with Ann Rutledge. This romance, like most things in Abe's life, ends up being more of a tragedy. Ann had been engaged to a man, John MacNamar, who ran off to New York and hasn't been seen or heard from in several years. Abe writes to John, asking him to release Ann from their engagement, not knowing that in the years that have passed, MacNamar has become a vampire. Enraged, MacNamar returns to Ann and gives her a "fool's dose" of his blood. She dies, just in the way that Abe's mother had died. Abe is beside himself with grief and decides that he's already given too much of himself to Henry's cause. He stops hunting vampires almost completely. He moves to Springfield to practice law and meets Joshua Speed. Despite Joshua's annoying personality, they become friends and Abe trains him to hunt vampires, just as he did with Jack. Abe also meets Mary Todd, who, after some drama, becomes Mary Todd Lincoln within 3 years of their meeting. Abe and Mary are married and have children and Abe completely stops hunting vampires.
The most important thing to happen during this time period is the birth of Abe's political career. He becomes a member of the Illinois State Legislature and eventually a member of Congress. In Washington, Abe cannot escape talk of vampires nor the sight of slaves everywhere. He reunites with Edgar Allan Poe, who tells him why the vampires have come to America. Fleeing persecution in Europe, America has provided vampires with freedom. Poe also warns Abe that if vampires keep coming to America, eventually the people will notice, leading to a clash between vampires and humans.
Abe returns to Illinois after only one term in Congress. He tries to stay our of politics so that he can spend more time with Mary and their growing family, but is dragged back in. He debates Stephen Douglas, a former rival for Mary's affection, in an attempt to dissuade Douglas and his fellow Congressmen from enacting the Kansas-Nebraska Act which would allow slavery to spread throughout America. Although he fails to persuade the Congressmen, his skills as an orator and his hatred for slavery (and by extension, vampires) keep him in the political arena. Just before this part closes, Henry summons Abe to New York. It is there that Abe finally finds out why Henry has been using him to kill vampires all these years. While there are some vampires that are working to take over the United States and enslave all of its people, Henry is part of a group called the Union who works to combat them. And the Union has plans for Abe.
Discussion Questions
- How do you feel about the scene in which Henry and Abe torture John MacNamar? Do you think that the torture was justified or an example that, despite his good intentions, Henry is still a vampire?
- Abe's friends, Jack Armstrong and Joshua Speed, are so different. Which one would you have been friends with?
- If you were Mary Todd, would you have taken Abe back? If you were Abe, would you have left her in the first place?
- Would you have gone along with the Union's plans?
- Has anything you've read so far made you want to know more about Abe or look up information about him?
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