Part 2, Howard, Chapters 11-12 Summary

Howard performs only essential morning and evening chores, letting everything else slide. Drought is killing everything, and without Alice, nothing matters. Bail is not reduced, so they can only wait. The community is lashing out and without Alice the family lacks direction. Howard recalls how he meets Alice, is quickly sure that life with her will be untroubled, marries her when she gets pregnant, and buys the farm. Howard finds it odd that Alice seems distant from her situation. With Nellie he avoids details and resents her reminders of past generosity. Howard knows so little about Alice's upbringing the he fears that it makes her look unwilling to confide in her husband. When describing Lizzy's death to Rafferty, Howard omits Alice's fleeing the church, her compulsive sleeping, her inability to speak or dress, and her knocking him...