Why does Kidd accept the difficult job of returning Johanna home?

Why does Kidd accept the difficult job of returning Johanna home? What drives him to complete the job despite the danger and obstacles?

He was sort of roped into it. It was interesting that he was trusted to take the girl because he was an old man (p. 11). The gold piece was certainly enticing, and perhaps he had some sympathy for the girl.

There were many reasons: he knew that he was a safer choice than some - being older; he knew that the great amount of money would make the job possible; he would be going in the direction of his home (where he could eventually meet up with his daughters); and most of all: here was a great and possibly final "message" he could run at the end of his long life.

I think he takes the job because he knows all the really terrible things that could happen to her if anyone else took her. And because he is the man he is, he couldn't let that happen. Also, he might feel an obligation to the man who asked him to take her.

I believe it follows the course he had taken his entire life. This was not military, but it was a mission. One he felt he could successfully finish at his age.

To me it seemed like one last adventure for him, he felt capable of doing the job, and the money was certainly a bonus.

I agree with most about reasons for taking on Johanna and the task of returning her home. He was a father of daughters himself. He knew the "routine" so to speak. He also knew the dangers out there and the cost to this young girl should she fall into the hands of bad people. The money was of some enticement but I think the man, Captain Kid, was the reason he took on this task. He was an honorable and intelligent man. He knew the territory and had some familiarity with the route through Texas.

He was restless and not entirely happy. He had daughters, as others have said. At the very beginning of the book when he does the first reading it says "his life seemed to him thin and sour". I felt that he was ready to shake up his life by taking on Johanna. And then having done so, he could not let her down and he didn't want to. It made for a very moving story.

He knew she was his best bet to make it to Castroville and he knew in his heart it was the right thing to do.

He was a man of integrity and principle. It was the right thing to do. Also, he loved the life of the road and bringing his news of the world to people in remote places.

The captain's sense of compassion and duty to his fellow man is what made him undertake this journey.

He was an honorable man. He was approached by men who knew that they could not travel where they needed do go in order to bring Johanna safely home and they appealed to his sense of honor.

I think he accepted the job out of compassion for her situation and the pull of returning home after being gone so long. I don't think it was coincidence that her family lived close to his. It was a journey for both of them to find their place and some measure of peace in where they were in their lives. They both had to forge a new path together. It was not the money. It was empathy, responsibility and memory.

Captain Kidd really didn't have a choice of taking Johanna with him. I think he felt sorry that she was so far from home and wanted to get her back to her family. He did it because it was the right thing to do.

It was not for the money. He did a friend a favor - knowing that a black man traveling with a white girl was very dangerous for its own reasons. Kidd was a committed man. His word was his bond. Even with some doubts he would keep his word.