Chapters 16, 17, 18 and 19 Summary

There are two narrative anchors in these four chapters - the events of the family's first Christmas in the city and the increasing interest from neighbors in Gertie's carving.

Chapter 16 - On a Saturday morning near Christmas, after fending off several door-to-door salesmen, Gertie lets Sophronie and her husband Whit hide the Christmas presents for their children in her already too crowded home. As they chat, a snowball fight between their children (on one side) and the Daly children (on the other) breaks out, becoming nastier as the children start calling each other names. Whit repeatedly tells the increasingly anxious Gertie to not interfere, saying Daly has influence with both the landlord and the police and could easily get people who cross him evicted. Her mind still on the fight, Gertie flings open the door for the terrified Cassie and tries...