Summary

In Chapter 1, "The Field," Matthew, Zoe, and Duncan Lang walk home from school one Monday in September, 1999. Zoe notices something in a nearby field. It is an unconscious boy. While Duncan tries flagging help on the road, Zoe strokes the boy's arm. Matthew thinks he looks like a painting. Several cars pass before someone stops. While waiting for the police, the siblings sit with the boy. He makes a sigh that sounds like a word (7).

They return home after the paramedics arrive, telling their parents, Hal and Betsy, what happened. They hypothesize about who might have stabbed him and why. Later, Detective Hugh Price arrives to question the children. The boy's name is Karel Lustig. The siblings struggle to recount what happened. Zoe says Karel muttered the word "cowrie," while Duncan thinks he said "coward," and Duncan says the word was "cowslip" (16). In...