Chapters 5 and 6 Summary

Chapter 5 - This chapter begins with Elsie and Lizabeth waiting up late at night to catch sight of the flasher. Their patience is eventually rewarded, and Elsie makes racy comments about how "under developed" he seems to be. The next day Matt, against Lizabeth's objections, installs a home illumination and security system, which Elsie sets off the following night, when the flasher returns despite heavy rain. Both Lizabeth and Elsie react with something close to pity, he seems so pathetic.

The next day at the work site as the rain continues, Lizabeth and Matt pick their way across a rain-sodden, would-be lawn to get to Matt's truck. "Boards had been laid," narration comments, "from the small cement front porch, across the quagmire ... Matt walked across without thinking, as surefooted as a mountain goat, and Lizabeth tiptoed behind him, using her arms...