Summary

Chapter 14. Samuel describes how buses arrived to evacuate some of the children, in an attempt to keep their parents safe. Esther, Samuel writes, did not go, staying with her friends even while he continued to experiment with different medicines and treatments that Claire continued to take, but with ever-decreasing effect. Instead, Samuel writes, she took comfort in trying to be close to Esther, in spite of Esther’s resistance. One night while Esther was out, Samuel writes, he and Claire had a long conversation in which she refused to even consider sending Esther away, and in which she took the blame for what was happening. When Samuel tried to tell her to stay quiet, saying that such self-questioning was against the rules of their faith, she talked about rejecting those rules and leaving the faith. Their conversation escalated into an argument, with...