Summary

Ava and the Bird Man continued their journey into the swamp. Deep inside Ava hoped they wouldn’t find Ossie right away because the Bird Man had been the first adult to really pay attention to her besides her father, mother and grandfather. They spent the night in an abandoned town called Stiltsville. As they ate dinner Ava asked the Bird Man if he had another name by which she could call him. He told her he didn’t have another name anymore. Later that night he listened attentively while Ava told him the story of Louis Thanksgiving. When he asked her what the dredgeman’s revelation meant she thought to herself that it meant that death was a theft, a crime but told the Bird Man she didn’t know what it meant. Before they went to sleep, Ava...