S. sits in his canoe in desperation. He is in this state of semi-reality, floating down a river in an unknown world, “with a dead woman and a baby who never was.” He hopes the river will empty in the sea, the only thing “on which he’s ever been able to rely.” S. has gone through so many adventures and by this point seems to have less of the heroic optimism that he would defeat evil and find himself along the way. S. finds the remains of the ship and the bodies that lie in the water around it.

Jen says that her parents think Eric started the fire in the barn. This fight between Jen and her parents has echoes of the story of her disaperance. “Nothing I say about you [Eric] matters… Dad said he’s going to call the police.” When something frightening and irrational happens, Jen’s parents — who represent people with ordinary and simple values — invent a scapegoat as an explanation. Jen can’t go anywhere because she knows she’s being followed by dangerous people. She decides to stay with Eric.

After fighting with her parents, Jen watched as her dad and sister’s boyfriend cleared out Jen’s stuff from the house.