Summary

Chapter 1 is narrated by a first-person narrator, one of Melissa and Patrick Byatt’s three children: Lilly, Lewis, or Grace. A voice tells the narrator to get up and drop the knife because their mother will be home soon. The narrator wants to tell his mother why he stabbed their father, but cannot. He has to be strong.

Chapter 2 is narrated by a third-person narrator with a focus on Melissa. She was returning from a bike ride in the forest surrounding the village of Forest Grove. Melissa finally felt content. She remembered the old oak in the forest and believed that her bad times were behind her. Even though their mortgage was high, she was happy to be living so near the forest that had been her sanctuary since her childhood.

Nearing home, Melissa stopped to talk to her friend, Daphne Peterson. Melissa...