Summary

Although Lila talks to her child about the future, she constantly reminds herself not to want things. Her thoughts wander back to when Doll arrived at her door bloody after being gone for a month. Lila nursed her, but when the sheriff arrested her in the morning, Lila lied that she did not know her. Because of Doll's age, the sheriff often cuffed her to a rocking chair on the front porch, but Doll denied knowing Lila when she visited, ultimately escaping and disappearing into the woods.

Wanting to talk to her husband, Lila goes to the church and walks home with him enjoyably. Recalling the money at the cabin, Lila decides to use it to buy a gift for her husband.

In the morning, she walks to the cabin and finds a desperate boy who has assumed ownership of the property...