Summary

The settlement is quiet and uneasy in the days following the fire. Ben Barth leaves the settlement and goes to the town of Southport to work for a window maker there. Pella begins taking the settler drugs, and she ceases to be able to project into deer. Doug Grant takes Ben Barth’s place working on Nugent’s farm. Clement becomes generally disorganized in the wake of Diana Eastling’s departure. He spends his time haphazardly gardening Archbuilder potatoes and salvage old Archbuilder artifacts. Nugent does not appear in public often, but even in his absence he seems to exert a sense of general control over the settlement. While waiting outside, she encounters Hiding Kneel, and they converse. Pella heavily implies that Hiding Kneel should leave town for fear of Nugent’s hatred towards Archbuilders. Hiding Kneel says that Clement is a kind person...