Summary

Chapter 6 is told from Rill's perspective. She dreams that she is on the peaceful river with Briny and Queenie, but that sense of peace fades when she wakes up in Queenie's bed with her four siblings. Zede knocks at the door, and tells Rill that Queenie's babies did not make it. She is devastated and knows how heartbroken Queenie must be. Zede brought a boy named Silas to look after them while he went back to the hospital to tend to Queenie and Briny. Silas looks to be about 15 years old. He is frail and has a bloody lip and black eye. He tells Rill and the rest of the children that he left home when he was nine years old because his mother's boyfriend used to beat him. He had been riding around the railroads ever since, apparently getting into trouble. Rill...