Chapter 9 Summary

David walks into the house, searching for Mother, but she is nowhere to be found. He climbed the stairs looking for her and felt something thick and runny under his feet. There was something hard beneath him, and David tripped over it in the hallway. It was Mother, sprawled on the floor, with blood coming out of her mouth.

He carried her into the bedroom and attempted to stop the blood from flowing. Mother was dying and David began to cry, even though he reckoned he was too old to cry. That night she passed quietly, and David stayed in the room with the train.

The next morning David went outside with his father's shovel and dug a grave under the pines. When he came into the house again he knew there was a man there. It was the preacher waiting for him...