Summary

Chapters 13 & 14

After the lotion incident, Louise feels quite certain that she is going insane. She imagines that she will spend the rest of her days cooped up in isolation, like Auntie Braxton, alone and generally forgotten on the island. Meanwhile, the Bradshaws are all concerned by the fact that Auntie Bradshaw is set to be released from the hospital, which means that the Captain will once again be homeless. Father says that the Captain should return to live with them, but Grandma is incensed, angrily preaching about how the Captain is a heathen who only wants to bed her. When Louise burns bright with embarrassment, Grandma cruelly continues, “Oh, she’s the one stirred him up … She thinks he craves her, but I know. I know who he’s really after” (Page 165). Furious and embarrassed, Louise flees the room.

That afternoon, Caroline concocts a...