Wolf Hollow

Betty does not turn up on Monday at school. Andy turns up, hours later, without her. Annabelle tells her teacher, Mrs. Taylor, about Betty’s claim that she and Andy were in the belfry and saw Toby on the day of Ruth’s incident. Mrs. Taylor decides to visit Annabelle’s parents. She tells them that, after catching Andy and Betty in the belfry on another occasion, she locked the passageway. This means that Betty must have lied about her whereabouts. Mrs. Taylor agrees to pass the information to Constable Oleska, and Annabelle begins to feel hopeful that Betty will meet justice.

Constable Oleska wakes up the family in the middle of the night to report that Betty has gone missing, and there is no sight of Toby either. Betty’s grandparents said that Betty left for school but never arrived there. Constable Oleska finds it suspicious that Toby has been taking pictures of Annabelle. In the newest roll of developed film, there is even a photograph of a felled Ruth on the floor as Mr. Ansel stands above her. The constable confirms that this adds up to a “worrisome conclusion” concerning Toby’s guilt (123). However, the constable’s first priority is finding Betty, and Annabelle’s father joins in the search for her. They are going to interview Betty’s love-interest, Andy, first. 

Annabelle, who is convinced of Toby’s innocence, wakes up in the early hours of the morning to hear her parents talking to Constable Oleska. They have not found Betty, but Andy reported that he and she were going to cut school together and meet at Turtle Stone instead. However, when a farm chore delayed Andy and he turned up at Turtle Stone late, he found that Betty was nowhere to be seen. Aunt Lily tries to initiate the vicious rumor that Toby kidnapped Betty for perverse reasons. The police are looking into this possibility. Annabelle’s mother allows her and her brothers to miss school that day. Annabelle heads off into the dark towards Toby’s smokehouse and finds him there.

Annabelle tells Toby that the State police are looking for him. Toby tells Annabelle that he had no idea that Betty was missing and that he had spent the whole day fishing. He says that he saw Betty and Andy on the hillside at the time of Ruth’s accident and that Betty threw the rock. He tried to take a picture of Betty, but he ended up with the shot of Ruth instead. He tells Annabelle he has done “some bad things” but offers no further explanation (136). Annabelle asks Toby to accompany her to a safe hiding place until Betty is found, or they no longer suspect him. She hides him in the barn’s hayloft.

Annabelle gathers some food for Toby and brings it to him the hayloft. Annabelle tries to get to know Toby better, and she asks him about his food and book preferences. He tells Annabelle that he saw Betty and Andy sharpening the wire that tripped up James, and he is convinced that Betty “was a bad girl” (150). Annabelle is disturbed by Toby’s use of the past tense, but she does not say anything.

While Annabelle is gathering provisions for Toby, she runs into her mother, who demands to know what Annabelle is not telling her. Annabelle at first says that she wants to help with the search for Betty, and then she bursts into tears because she is overwhelmed by recent events. Her mother comforts her and tells her she can search if she does not stray too far from the farm. Toby is grateful for the food, and Annabelle offers to cut his hair and trim his long beard. The tidier version of Toby looks “different, shorn” (163).

When the searchers come to Annabelle’s farm to refuel, Annabelle sees that Officer Coleman is now leading the search. She notices that the men’s talk centers on finding Toby, as though he is the cause of Betty’s disappearance. For the first time, Annabelle wonders where Betty might have gone to. She is willing to admit that the disappearance might be more than one of Betty’s “stupid games” (168).

Annabelle finds Toby in the hayloft and tells him that in his shorn state, he is so well disguised that no-one would recognize him. He could pretend to be from Hopewell, another town, and join in the search. Toby’s scars are visible now that he has cut his hair, and Annabelle runs her hands over them and listens to his stories of war trauma and his pain at killing “so many” soldiers and civilians in the last war (175). Toby’s stories devastate Annabelle, and she hopes that she will never have sons of her own. 

Officer Coleman reveals that Andy held some of the story back. Andy admits that Betty had masterminded a plan to go to Toby’s smokehouse and drive him away. Officer Coleman confirms that he will be searching for Toby in order to find Betty. Annabelle hears an instinctive “voice in [her] head” that tells her where Betty is (182). She thinks that Toby should be the one to save Betty and persuades him to go out without the accessory of three guns slung across his front.