Chapter 20 Summary

This chapter is a flashback to the initial events surrounding Norah's disappearance. When Norah first went missing, Reta thought that perhaps her problems stemmed from her relationship with Ben Abbot. She deplores the fact that young adults in the twenty-first century live in an age of prolonged childhood and protracted dependency on their parents. After they had discovered that Norah was living the life of a vagabond, Tom and Reta had driven to Toronto to visit Ben in the basement apartment he shared with their daughter. It had been Reta's intention to demonstrate her disapproval of Ben, but she soon realized that he was as distraught and puzzled about Norah's sudden change as she was. Ben told them that Norah had changed drastically in the few weeks prior to her disappearance. She had become uncharacteristically irritable and short-tempered. Ben thought that she might...