Part 2: Chapters 25-27 Summary

In Chapter 25, Gwyn wakes to find herself in Old Megg's house once again. Burl and Tad have brought her there to recover; the rest of the family believes that she has run away. They have had to cut her hair off because of her fever, and Burl has disposed of the Jackaroo clothes so that nobody will know the true story. However, her position is precarious, for soon the hut will be needed for seasonal workers, the pickers, who come to work the land. She thinks that she will go live in the mountains, but Burl dismisses this as unbelievably dangerous.

In Chapter 26, she goes and hides in the stables at the Inn. The family now knows that she is alive and more or less well, but cannot welcome her back publicly; the entire village thinks she has run...