Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary

Gretchen is at work on a Saturday, dragging out the work past quitting time in order to keep from having to leave. Gretchen worries that she will lose her job when the war ends, a fact she discussed with her father the night before. Gretchen wants to go to New York to get a job, but her father refused the idea. Now Gretchen is scheming for another way to get to New York. A part of Gretchen hopes that something will happen to keep her from her scheme, but she manages to get on a bus for King's Landing, a remote part of the county, without incident.

Gretchen buys a coke at the general store and takes her time drinking it, wondering what people would think if they knew why she was out here in the middle of nowhere. Gretchen intends...