Summary

“Lily’s Nightmare” began with a description of her cottage, Basketman’s Cottage, named after the basket maker who lived there previously and committed suicide in the river. Posts surrounded the cabin to track the flood levels over the years. Lily resided in the cottage for four years and isolated herself. She earned money housekeeping the parsonage but refused to lodge there. Lily kept a secret; she took the surname of the man she previously lived with and took care of—Mr. White—who beat her and never married her. When he died, she moved to Buscot with her new identity. She took care of the pigs outside the cottage and reminisced about her childhood with her mother, but she felt lonely and shameful in her adulthood. When she fell asleep, she dreamed that a young girl perpetually dripping river...