The Giver of Stars

Beth comes upon three children trapped by the rising creek. She wades across and, though she reaches them, can’t figure out a way back once the river surges. Suddenly, Izzy arrives in her mother’s car. Izzy retrieves rope from the car and, after tossing it to Beth, secures an end to the car itself. She wades across, where the women secure the children to the rope. They have to coax the eldest girl with a song, and as they make their way across the rising creek, the car begins sinking. They quickly unbuckle the children and themselves, right before the rope snaps and the current drags the car away.

Alice and Fred manage to save all the books, and they retire to Fred’s house to wait out the rain. Though Alice is hesitant to be in Fred’s house due to the unspoken attraction between them, she’s also happy: “They knew of the dangers, but for that moment, Alice couldn’t help but see the water, running past them down the road below, as her secret ally, halting the normal flow of the world” (263). Fred offers her clothing and food, and after Alice changes clothes and watches his muscular body, something inside her changes and she rushes over to him. Despite her resolve, Fred stops her. Alice, clearly embarrassed, takes offense and tries to leave. Fred assures her that he loves her, but since she’s married, he doesn’t want to complicate things. This is why he has been giving her book passages, says Fred, “All I can give you, Alice, is…words” (265). Alice eventually calms, then thanks Fred.

The rain finally stops. Mr. and Mrs. Brady find Izzy, and the Bradys offer the three children that Izzy rescued a home for the night. Meanwhile, Margery awakens to Sven watching over her. She learns that all the women are safe, and Sophia and William are downstairs cooking. Sven finally tells Margery that he knows she’s pregnant. She apologizes for not telling him, but she wasn’t sure what to do about being pregnant. The thought of being a mother scared her, but she felt the baby when she was helping others and wants to do right by her (she feels it’s a girl). Sven agrees to be there for her and the child, and the two reconnect while Sven cries from joy.

Mr. and Mrs. Brady hardly ever fight, having been married for 30 years. Yet they fight about Izzy returning to the Pack House Library. Mrs. Brady finally wins out, and the pair fall asleep on the couch, holding each other’s hands.

Alice discovers that Margery is pregnant and can’t hide her shock. Though Margery brushes off the possible gossip, Alice can’t imagine how things will be fine in town with this new development.

Margery pays a visit to William and Sophia’s house in Monarch Creek. While looking at the black smudge over everything, she’s struck with a thought: Not only have the Van Cleves been absent in town for a few days, the flooding everywhere else has been mud or silt, not pitch black. Before going home, she heads off towards the Hoffman mines. When she reaches the property through a back way along a seemingly impassable mountain route, she confirms her suspicions: One of the three slurry dams on the property has broken open and is clear of its black sludge.

Margery rushes back to town and confronts Mr. Van Cleve while he and Bennett eat at the Nice n’ Quick restaurant. Right when Mr. Van Cleve prepares to eat his fried chicken, Margery drops a slop of oily sludge onto his plate. She accuses him of purposely flooding Monarch Creek, and of being an all-around bully to poorer people. Sven rushes in and drags her outside. He calms Margery and promises that they’ll take Mr. Van Cleve down—the right way. While he kisses her and rubs her protruding belly, Mr. Van Cleve watches them incredulously from the window.

Soon enough, the entire town knows that Margery is pregnant. Though many consider the circumstances understandable, considering the no-good O’Hare family, others think a baby isn’t such a bad thing given the devastation of the flood. Though Sophia queries Margery about whether she’ll marry, Margery admits that not only will she not marry, she’ll raise her child up as she sees fit. Later, Sven brings up marriage, despite his earlier promise to never broach the topic again. Instead of Margery yelling at him, she shocks him by saying, “Let me think about it” (281). When Alice returns home a little while later, she’s amused to hear Sven and Margery making love again.

When April arrives, the snows in the mountain, which last longer than in town, begin thawing. Clem McCullough’s frostbitten, decomposed body surfaces above Red Lick; he’d hit his head on a boulder, although observers unfamiliar with the incident at Arnott’s Ridge cannot determine his cause of death. A copy of Little Women, belonging to the Baileyville Pack Horse Library, also surfaces along with the body.

Mr. Van Cleve, in high spirits, visits the sheriff and brings a box of cigars. He speculates about Margery’s involvement, suggesting that since the O’Hares and McCulloughs have a blood feud stretching back generations, Margery must’ve ambushed a drunken Clem and killed him. Though the sheriff doesn’t initially believe Margery is involved (and he also mentions that she’s pregnant, so it would be a shame to arrest her), Mr. Van Cleve next tells him about Margery’s actions over the last few months, including negatively influencing Alice and fomenting dissent with union talk. When he offers the box of cigars to the sheriff, the sheriff takes them with a warm smile.

The sheriff visits the library and queries the women about the murder and their whereabouts. Margery seems visibly shaken at the news of Clem’s death, and when the sheriff asks to see the ledger entries to ascertain their routes, Sophia hides the ledger under the desk. Other lawmen arrive, and the sheriff plays his card: If Margery didn’t do the crime, he’ll have to accuse one of the other women. He then tells them that Nancy Stone (the elder sister to whom Margery was bringing books to in the prologue) told them Margery was the one on Arnott’s Ridge. Moreover, the murder weapon is a copy of Little Women. He then arrests Margery. Fred has to hold Alice back when Alice lunges at the sheriff. Fred later summons Sven, who is now beside himself.

Later that night, Sven tells Alice and Fred the true story surrounding Clem attacking Margery on Arnott’s Ridge. Though it was self-defense, they have no way of proving it. It’s later revealed that Nancy hadn’t implicated Margery; the sheriff twisted her words into a confession. As the new rumors about Margery possibly murdering Clem make their rounds, public opinion turns against her. Margery is arrested and sent to Baileyville jail. She’s visibly shaken, and the men in the jail catcall to her. Though terror wells up inside Margery, she soon receives a sign: “And then the baby shifted inside her, once, twice, as if telling her that she was not alone, that nothing was to be gained from this” (294).