Chapters 6, 7, and 8 Summary

Robey sleeps in the burned out house and is awakened by the approach of three people. Unable to escape the house, he ascends the burned stairs to the second story and hides. The trio enters the house—they are an older man, an obviously ill older woman, and a young thin girl. The older woman is bloated with a severely distended belly, and is blind. The older man and woman apparently are married; the younger girl, who appears tired and hungry, acts as a sort of servant and is not held in high regard. The young girl is instructed to build a fire and she uses many of the fine objects of the house to keep the fire burning. She makes dinner from a chicken. The older man uses a hot knife to burn a tick out of his thigh...