Chapter 16 Summary: Lizzy's August 20, 2019 — Key Events 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
After dropping the kids off at the pier, Lizzy drives her van past the winery to Wildflower Cottages, a collection of five brightly painted mailboxes marking a long dirt driveway. She passes turnoffs for Daisy, Peony, Hyacinth, and Buttercup cottages before finding the one for Bluebell. The cottage is painted vivid blue, tucked along the shore among pine trees, with no cars, no towels on the clothesline, and no sign of life.
Lizzy explores the property. She peers through windows at the downstairs rooms and a loft with two more bedrooms. Out back she finds a charcoal grill, overturned canoes, and a Honda generator with two five-gallon gas cans. A dock leads to a swimming float. The cottage is completely secluded—thick trees block views of neighboring cottages, there are no power lines, no phone or cable, and no cell service. Lizzy reflects that this would feel like a prison sentence for a teenage girl, especially one just out of a six-week stay in a residential treatment center. She mutters a quiet comment about the poor kid to herself.
Following the shoreline to the edge of the woods, Lizzy spots a path carpeted with brown pine needles. She wonders if this is the same path Lauren took night after night to call to Rattling Jane. She starts walking, though she's ill-prepared—no backpack, no bug spray, no water. She notes that back in her van she has a monster-hunting kit with first aid supplies, a video camera, a digital recorder, and sometimes a gun. She considers turning back but presses on.
As she walks, she tries to imagine being Lauren, creeping away from the cottage after dark. She finds it easy to remember what it was like to be thirteen and full of secrets, sneaking around in the dark. She notices recent signs of use on the path: footprints in wet ground, broken twigs, and a cigarette butt she picks up, wondering if it's Lauren's.
After nearly half an hour of walking, Lizzy is about to turn back when the path opens onto a larger trail. A painted wooden sign points right to Loon Cove, a quarter mile away. A metal sign, pockmarked with bullet holes, states the preserve is open sunrise to sunset and prohibits motorized vehicles, camping, and fires. She turns right, and the road narrows to a footpath downhill over roots and rocks, eventually reaching old, crumbling stone steps built into the bank. She descends carefully to the water.
The cove is small and secluded, surrounded by birch and pine trees—a perfect spot for teenagers to party. A pebble beach shows remnants of a campfire: two empty beer cans and cigarette butts in the firepit. A worn driftwood log serves as a bench, carved with initials and words: S.W., a crude dismissal, and a note that Tansy was here. There's no message from Lauren or Rattling Jane hinting at what happened here. Lizzy sits, runs her fingers over the carvings, and looks out at the water, letting herself imagine a figure surfacing—a woman made of fish bones, sticks, weeds, and mud.
She walks the perimeter of the cove and finds the hollow tree the kids told her about: an old white paper birch with a knothole about six feet up, a perfect hiding spot for a kid's stash. She reaches in blindly, expecting cigarettes or a bag of pot, but finds something smooth, hard, and rectangular, with a small paper bundle beneath it.
She pulls out an old gold Zippo lighter with a butterfly engraved on the front, and a lined piece of notebook paper—the kind used for the monster book—folded into a neat rectangle and tied with dirty garden twine. Her heart racing, she turns the lighter over and reads the engraved initials: HEH. It's Gran's lighter. It's been cleaned, filled, and cared for.
Trembling, she unties the twine and unwraps the paper. Inside is a smooth gray pebble. The note is a message from the Monster to the Monster Hunter: the Monster gives the hunter a stone so she can make a wish. It asks what the hunter wishes for, what she dreams of, what the Monster dreams. It describes an old dream of endings and beginnings, a dream of fire, of a lever pulled and a world of bright white light and crumbling ruin. A single line is spoken: a short declaration about belonging dead. The note asks if the hunter shares the same dream, if she dreams it with the Monster.
Lizzy's skin buzzes. Her heart hammers. She looks around, studying the trees, listening. She has the strongest sensation of being watched—that this is part of the game, hide-and-seek, catch me if you can. She calls out a greeting and then asks if someone is there, but gets no answer. The trees rustle, waves lap the shore, a distant motorboat drones, and a loon calls—low, mournful, a strange mocking laugh.
She tucks the lighter, paper, and stone carefully into her pocket, breathes slowly and deeply until she feels she won't faint, and makes her way back up the steps to the trail.
Key Events
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Lizzy locates Bluebell Cottage and confirms it's deserted, with no utilities or cell service
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She follows a shoreline path for about half an hour, imagining Lauren's nightly route
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She discovers Loon Cove, a secluded spot with campfire remnants and a carved driftwood log
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She finds the hollow birch tree and retrieves Gran's gold Zippo lighter (initials HEH) and a folded note
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The note contains a gray pebble and a message from the Monster to the Monster Hunter about wishes, dreams of fire, and a line about belonging dead
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Lizzy feels watched and calls out, but no one answers; she pockets the items and leaves
Character Development
Lizzy shows her dual nature in this chapter: the methodical investigator and the emotionally vulnerable granddaughter. She's prepared to be a monster hunter—she has a kit in her van—but she's also impulsive, pressing on without it. Her empathy for Lauren is clear when she imagines the cottage as a prison for a teenage girl. Her reaction to Gran's lighter—trembling fingers, racing heart—reveals how deeply the family mystery affects her.
Gran is present through her lighter, which has been cleaned and filled, suggesting someone has been maintaining it. Its placement in the hollow tree, alongside the monster's note, implies Gran is connected to the mystery in ways Lizzy hasn't yet understood.
Lauren is understood through Lizzy's imagination: a thirteen-year-old full of secrets, sneaking out at night to call to Rattling Jane. The cigarette butt and recent footprints on the path suggest Lauren's presence lingers.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Isolation and seclusion: Bluebell Cottage is cut off from the world—no power, no phone, no cell service. Lizzy frames it as a prison for a teenage girl, which explains Lauren's desperation.
The hollow tree as a hiding place: The knothole in the birch tree is a classic childhood stash spot, but here it holds adult secrets—Gran's lighter and the monster's note. It bridges childhood games and the family's dark history.
The wish stone: The gray pebble is a tangible object in a world of secrets. The note frames it as a gift from the Monster to the Monster Hunter, turning a child's game into something ominous.
Fire as a motif: The note's dream of fire, the campfire remnants, and the lighter itself all point toward destruction. The line about belonging dead and the image of a lever pulled suggest a catastrophic event in the family's past.
Hide-and-seek: Lizzy interprets the note and her sense of being watched as part of a game. The monster is playing with her, and she's the hunter being hunted.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter delivers a major revelation: Gran's lighter is hidden in the hollow tree, paired with a note that directly addresses Lizzy as the Monster Hunter. The note's references to fire, a lever, and belonging dead hint at a traumatic event that connects Gran, the monster, and the family's past. Lizzy's sense of being watched—and the loon's mocking laugh—suggests the monster is real and nearby. The chapter transforms Lizzy from an investigator into a participant in the game, setting up the next stage of her search.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What does the note's reference to a lever pulled and a world of bright white light suggest about the monster's origins?
The note describes a dream of fire, a lever pulled, and a world of bright white light and crumbling ruin. This imagery suggests a catastrophic event—possibly an explosion or a deliberate act of destruction—that the monster associates with its own origins. The line about belonging dead implies the monster may be connected to someone who died in that event, or that the monster itself is a remnant of that destruction.
2. Why does Lizzy imagine herself as Lauren while walking the path?
Lizzy deliberately tries to see the path through Lauren's eyes, remembering what it was like to be thirteen and full of secrets. This exercise helps her understand Lauren's motivations—why she would sneak out at night to call to Rattling Jane—and also connects Lizzy to her own past, since she was once a girl with secrets too. It's a way of building empathy while gathering clues.
3. What is the significance of Gran's lighter being hidden in the hollow tree?
The lighter is a family heirloom that has been cleaned and filled, suggesting someone has been maintaining it. Its placement alongside the monster's note implies Gran is connected to the mystery—either she left it there, or someone else placed it to send Lizzy a message. The initials HEH make the connection personal, and Lizzy's emotional reaction shows this is a turning point in her investigation.
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