Chapter 2: Rat's Alley 1939-1944 Summary

Rachel Honaker, 1939-1940

Dillon begs Rachel not to go away to school. The bank is about ready to take their house away but he vows to fight them. Dillon is upset that Rachel is leaving and vows to never speak to her again. Rachel accidentally pokes her broken finger with the needle she's using to sew. Dillon grabs her finger and sucks the blood away. That's the last thing I'll ever do for you, he tells her as he storms out. Flora wants Rachel to go to school but not to become a nurse—it is beneath her. She needs to position herself to marry quality.

Rachel arrives at the Grace Hospital in Justice town. As a new student, she is given a copy of Arnold Toynbee's Study of History, in which he describes the people...