Summary

As the drought lifts, the people of Lapvona begin to rebuild, forgetting their recent suffering. Animals return to the valley. Erno, Villiam’s accountant during the drought, disappears under mysterious circumstances, and Villiam distributes food to the villagers that he incorporates into the cost of their taxes. Jude retreats to the cave that Ina lived in during her exile and elects to become a beggar. Father Barnabas works to restore the broken faith of the villagers by telling them that God works “in mysterious ways” (188). He enjoys lying to them. Villiam sends word to his brother-in-law, Ivan, that he needs some men and women to help repopulate Lapvona, but Ivan does not reply.

Ina has become a kind of village healer in the wake of her breastmilk drying up, and has begun distributing care to the villagers, including a false forsythia oil that is...