Plot Summary: Before the Boat
The novel opens with Davie Balfour getting a letter. The letter, from his recently-deceased dad, tells Davie to head to the house of Shaws. Davie is excited that he'll get to meet a lord (called a laird in Scotland), and he hopes to find his fortune, or at least get a job, in the Shaw's household. So Davie heads to Edinburgh.
But when Davie arrives at the house of Shaws, all he finds is his uncle Ebenezer Balfour, who is a very unpleasant human. He attempts to kill Davie, though Davie doesn't understand why. But Davie convinces his uncle to take him to see Mr. Rankeillor, the family lawyer. Davie hope he will finally understand how he is connected to the house of Shaws.
On the way to the lawyer's office, Ebenezer makes Davie stop and visit the ship Covenant, which Ebenezer has financed, and its captain, Mr. Hoseason. Mr. Hoseason seems happy to meet young Davie, and takes him on a tour of the boat. As he does, Ebenezer gets into the rowboat and goes back ashore, leaving Davie on board the Covenant. It turns out that Ebenezer is planning to have Hoseason sell Davie as a slave to a plantation in America. But by the time Davie understand this, it's too late. The boat has set sail with the addition of one seventeen-year-old future slave.