Chapter 13: Callie — Summary, Analysis, and Key Takeaways
⚠️ 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
Mom forces Callie to hike to the stone garden before sunset. Callie resists internally, noting that exercise makes her think of sadness and danger. Pale Callie, her inner voice, suggests Mom might leave her in the desert. Mom packs supplies—two bottles of water, PowerBars, sunscreen—which Callie reads as evidence she won't be abandoned.
They climb a hidden staircase in a narrow crack between two red hills. The steps are old and slippery. From the top, they can see the plain, the house, and the highway below. They pass the ruins of the old Grainger place, the puppy farm, which makes Mom look nauseous when Callie points it out.
At the stone garden—a rock formation carved into tunnels and twisted shapes where wind whistles through holes—Mom sits and tries to have a conversation. She mentions Callie never knew her grandfather or Mia. She reflects on how Sundial used to be different: cows, vegetable picking, campfires, a tame coyote puppy.
Then Mom confronts Callie about the animal bones she's been collecting. Callie resists, saying it's private. She accuses Mom of liking Annie better and being mean. Mom takes Callie's hand and puts it on her chest, saying she has to stop. Callie tries to wriggle free. Mom's grip tightens, and Callie sees the yellow look in her eyes—the same look she had when she pulled Callie out of the mine shaft. Callie thinks she's an offering.
Then the fall happens. Callie swears she doesn't push her mother, but Mom flies backward off the rock, falls hard, and rolls down the scree. She comes to rest on her back, arms and legs flung out like a star. Callie watches, thinking she might have killed her mother. She imagines drawing her mother's bones. But then she cries, realizing she doesn't want that.
Callie goes to her mother, touches her—she's warm, her heart is beating. Callie pulls her eyelid up and sees the eyeball is white. Mom's eyelids flutter, she sighs, and says Callie's name. Callie feels a glow because Mom didn't say Annie's name.
Mom says she hit her head. Then memory seeps in—she accuses Callie of pushing her. Callie says she was scared. Mom refuses to call for help. She insists they settle things between them.
Mom reveals she had a sister named Jack. They were the closest two people can be without being one person. Jack was lost to Sundial—Sundial happened. Mom says she doesn't really know what Jack was like, especially toward the end.
Mom says what Callie did to Annie is like a part of her is already dead. Callie says yes, almost gratefully. Mom says Callie must always protect her sister. She asks about the pill bottle incident—will it happen again? Callie whispers yes, it will happen again. Mom thanks her for being honest.
They return home. Mom makes nettle tea, Callie has hot chocolate with marshmallows. Mom says she's going to tell Callie the truth, explain why Callie has to be careful of how she feels and what she does, much more careful than other people.
Key Events
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Mom forces Callie to hike to the stone garden before sunset
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They climb a hidden staircase in the desert canyon, passing the ruins of the old Grainger place
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Mom confronts Callie about the animal bones she's been collecting
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During their struggle, Mom falls backward off the rock and rolls down the slope
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Callie initially fears she has killed her mother
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Mom regains consciousness and accuses Callie of pushing her
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Mom refuses to call for help, insisting they settle things between them
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Mom reveals she once had a sister named Jack, who was lost to Sundial
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Mom questions Callie about the pill bottle incident involving Annie
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Callie admits it will happen again
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They return home, where Mom says she will explain why Callie must be more careful about her feelings and actions than other people
Character Development
Callie — This chapter shows Callie's internal conflict. She fears her mother but also cares for her. She admits the pill bottle incident will happen again, showing honesty even when it's dangerous. She uses the affectionate name Momushka for the first time in a long time.
Mom — Reveals vulnerability for the first time. She admits she had a sister named Jack who was lost to Sundial. She shows the yellow look—a dangerous side that Callie recognizes. She refuses to call for help, insisting on settling things between them.
Pale Callie — Callie's inner voice, suggests dark possibilities. She disappears when Mom is at her most dangerous, suggesting even the ghosts are afraid of Mom.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The desert as a hostile, skeletal landscape — The land looks like a starving animal with the bones showing through. The desert is hungry, dangerous.
Going pale as a death transformation — Throughout the chapter, pale is used to describe death. Callie worries her mother has gone pale. The old people who cut the staircase went pale long ago.
Sacrifice and offerings — Pale Callie suggests the old people threw offerings off the rock. Callie thinks she's an offering. The stone garden is a place of danger.
Mother-daughter conflict — The central conflict of the chapter. Callie and Mom struggle physically and emotionally.
Sibling bonds and rivalry — Mom's relationship with Jack mirrors Callie's relationship with Annie. Mom says Callie must always protect her sister.
The past haunting the present — Mom says the past always has its hands around your neck. Jack's loss haunts Mom.
Confession and honesty — Callie admits the pill bottle incident will happen again. Mom thanks her for being honest.
The yellow look as a danger motif — The yellow look in Mom's eyes signals danger, the same look she had when she pulled Callie out of the mine shaft.
Family secrets — The revelation of Jack, the pill bottle incident, the bones.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter is a turning point. It reveals Jack, Mom's sister, for the first time, connecting the family's past to the present. The pill bottle incident is confirmed as something that will happen again, setting up the explanation Mom promises at the end. The ambiguous fall—did Callie push her mother?—raises questions about Callie's reliability as a narrator and her potential for violence.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Callie insist she didn't push her mother? Is this reliable?
Callie's insistence that she didn't push her mother is ambiguous. She swears she doesn't know how it happens and that she doesn't push her. But the chapter also shows Callie's dark inner voice (Pale Callie) and her admission that the pill bottle incident will happen again. The ambiguity suggests Callie may not be a reliable narrator, or that she has impulses she can't control.
2. What does the yellow look signify about Mom?
The yellow look appears in Mom's eyes when she's at her most dangerous. Callie recognizes it from the mine shaft incident. It suggests Mom has a volatile, potentially violent side that Callie fears. It also connects to the theme of mental instability that runs through the book.
3. Why does Mom thank Callie for being honest about the pill bottle?
Mom thanks Callie for being honest because honesty is the only way they can address the problem. Mom says it's what they do that matters. By admitting the pill bottle incident will happen again, Callie is taking responsibility, which Mom sees as a step toward change.
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