Chapter 28: Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The group drives to 1512 Skylark Lane, the Strouds' last known address in Kithira. The neighborhood shifts from stately colonial homes to a modest, unfinished stretch of road, with dense forest pressing close. The house shows every sign of long abandonment: mail spilling from an overstuffed mailbox, pine needles clogging the gutters, no lights in the windows.

When Cate knocks, the door creaks open on its own. Inside, the house smells musty and ripe. A television plays on mute, and the source of the smell turns out to be a rotting sandwich on the kitchen counter, surrounded by flies. A photo of Vera Stroud and her daughter is stuck to the refrigerator, and the fridge door hangs ajar. The scene gives Josie an unsettling sense of a life interrupted mid-motion, a feeling that recalls her own mother's fire-damaged house.

Cate calls Josie over to an answering machine in a small nook off the kitchen. The first saved message is from a young man asking for Del. The second, recorded only a few weeks earlier, is from Josie's mother. In the message, she tells Vera she wants to discuss Fiona, admits that they let Fiona down and let Lily-Anne down, and recites the family's home number before saying goodbye. Hearing her mother's voice for the first time in what seems like a long while, Josie is deeply moved. She closes her eyes and lets the voice wash over her, and for a moment she wonders whether her mother might have had reasons for setting the fire. The thought feels traitorous to Bellanger at first, but she lets it settle.

Isabelle calls out from the kitchen. She has pulled back the curtains and found a bloodstained handprint smeared along the wall near the back door. The group follows the trail outside, through a threadbare backyard and into the forest. The woods are dense and wild, swallowing sound. Josie spots a flash of white ahead and runs toward it, hopeful, but what she finds is a white dress hanging from a tree branch, strung up by its sleeves so the empty fabric forms the silhouette of a woman. The clearing around it is charred, full of burned tree stumps. The dress carries a bloodstain near the waist.

Tom argues that they need to go to the police. Cate resists fiercely, pointing out that no one seems to have noticed or investigated what happened, and that they know nothing about Kithira or its people. Tom counters that this is their best chance to find the person targeting the women, and he appeals directly to Josie's desire to learn what happened to her mother. Josie, miserable, agrees with Tom. The group turns back toward the house.

At the edge of the clearing, Josie stops. The trees near the charred circle have words carved into their bark, fresh and raw. She reads them: WITCHES, repeated over and over, in varying sizes, spreading from trunk to trunk.

Key Events

The group arrives at the Strouds' abandoned home in Kithira and enters through an unlocked door.
Josie hears her mother's voice on the answering machine, in a message to Vera about Fiona and Lily-Anne.
Isabelle discovers a bloodstained handprint near the back door.
The group follows a blood trail into the forest and finds a charred clearing with a bloodstained white dress hanging from a tree.
Tom and Cate clash over whether to involve the police; Josie ultimately sides with Tom.
Josie discovers the word WITCHES carved repeatedly into the surrounding trees.

Character Development

Josie undergoes a significant emotional shift in this chapter. Hearing her mother's voice on the answering machine is a visceral experience; she notes that her mother's voice is the one she hears in her own head, which complicates her earlier sense of being done with her mother. For the first time, she entertains the possibility that her mother may have had reasons for the fire, a thought she initially experiences as a betrayal of Bellanger but then allows to remain. Her decision to side with Tom over Cate is also notable: she acknowledges that the group can no longer handle things alone, even though she is clearly torn.

Cate remains the most resistant to outside help. Her reaction to the bloodstained handprint moves from shock to hardened determination, and she argues forcefully against going to the police, suggesting that something about the situation does not add up, that the violence went unnoticed for too long. Her distrust of authority and her instinct toward self-reliance are on full display.

Tom shifts from initial panic to firm resolve. He is the one who pushes for police involvement, appealing to Josie's desire to find her mother. His argument is practical, since this is the first time they have found physical evidence left behind, but Cate's resistance suggests a deeper conflict about who can be trusted.

Isabelle remains eerily calm throughout. She is the one who finds the handprint, follows the trail, and tears the dress down from the tree, holding it against her own body as if trying it on. Her composure in the face of violence is striking.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The empty dress as absence. The white dress hanging from the tree, strung up by its sleeves, creates the silhouette of a woman who is not there, headless, handless, limbless. It is a powerful symbol of the women who have been erased and of the violence done to them. Isabelle's instinct to take it down and hold it suggests a desire to reclaim or honor what was lost.

Fire as recurring violence. The charred clearing, the burned tree stumps, and the smell of fire connect this scene to the earlier fires at Bellanger's house, Cate's house, and Josie's mother's home. The pattern is becoming explicit: fire is the method of erasure, and this clearing is another instance of it.

Witch hunt and persecution. The word WITCHES carved into the trees is the chapter's most overt reference to the persecution of women. It frames the violence against the women of this story, the Girl Ones and their mothers, as a kind of witch hunt, a systematic targeting of women who are seen as different or threatening. The repetition of the word, spreading from trunk to trunk, suggests a pervasive, almost ritualistic hatred.

Maternal guilt and connection. Josie's mother's message to Vera is laden with guilt; she says they let Fiona down and let Lily-Anne down. This suggests a shared history of failure and regret among the mothers, and it complicates Josie's understanding of her own mother. The message also reconnects Josie to her mother in a way she did not expect, making her question her earlier assumptions.

Trust vs. self-reliance. The argument between Tom and Cate crystallizes a central tension in the novel: whether to seek outside help or to rely on the group's own resources. Cate's distrust of the police and her insistence on self-reliance clash with Tom's practical argument that they need help. Josie's choice to side with Tom marks a shift in the group's dynamic.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point in the investigation. It confirms that Josie's mother was in contact with the Strouds, and it provides the first concrete physical evidence of violence against them: the bloodstained handprint, the charred clearing, the bloodied dress. The discovery of the word WITCHES carved into the trees reframes the entire mystery. This is not just a series of isolated attacks but a pattern of persecution targeting the women connected to the Girl One program. The chapter also deepens Josie's emotional arc, as she hears her mother's voice for the first time and begins to question her assumptions about the fire. Finally, the decision to involve the police, over Cate's objections, sets up a new phase in the group's journey, one that may bring them into contact with authorities who may or may not be trustworthy.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Josie's reaction to her mother's answering machine message matter for her character arc?

Josie's reaction matters because it complicates her relationship with her mother. She has been operating with a certain understanding of what happened, that her mother set the fire and that they were done with each other. Hearing her mother's voice, and the guilt in the message, opens the door to a different interpretation. For the first time, she allows herself to wonder whether her mother had reasons for what she did. This is a significant shift from her earlier certainty, and it suggests that her journey is as much about understanding her mother as it is about finding her.

2. What does the word WITCHES carved into the trees reveal about the nature of the violence in the novel?

The word WITCHES reframes the violence as a form of persecution rather than random crime. It connects the attacks on the women, the Girl Ones and their mothers, to historical witch hunts, in which women were targeted for being different, powerful, or threatening. The repetition of the word, carved into tree after tree, suggests a systematic, almost ritualistic hatred. It also implies that the perpetrator sees the women as a specific category to be eliminated, not as individuals. This revelation deepens the novel's exploration of how women's lives are policed and destroyed.

3. Why does Josie ultimately side with Tom over Cate on the question of going to the police?

Josie sides with Tom because she recognizes that the group is out of its depth. The evidence at the Strouds' house, the blood, the dress, the charred clearing, is more than they can handle alone. Tom's argument that this is their best chance to find out what happened to her mother is persuasive, and it appeals directly to her deepest desire. At the same time, her decision is not easy: she is miserable with the choice, and she is aware of Cate's disapproval. Her choice reflects a growing recognition that self-reliance has limits, and that some questions can only be answered with outside help, even if that help comes with risks.