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Summary: Part 2, Section 2

From the interaction meeting to the end of Part 2

The Mother urges the adults into the kitchen, and tells Klara to go into the Open Plan with the children. When Klara does, she is disoriented, finding the space broken up into boxes again, unfamiliarized by the new people and their things. Klara sees Josie in conversation with three other girls. Klara realizes that all the children are discussing Rick, who is standing alone. A long-armed girl goes up to him and offers him a bowl of chocolates before beginning to ask him questions about himself. The children begin to pay attention to their interaction, and Josie gets angry, telling him to answer the girl’s questions. Klara realizes that Rick is getting annoyed, and that the other children are trying to provoke him.

Josie puts an end to it by introducing Klara to everyone. A boy named Danny says he wants Klara to come to him, and Josie commands her to do so. Klara doesn’t move, taken aback by Josie’s unusually demanding tone. Danny grips Klara so that she can’t move and suggests they try tossing her around. The long-armed girl grabs Klara and tells her to sing for them, and Klara refuses. The children continue to try and get her to do things for them and she continues to refuse. Danny and his friends move to grab her and throw her around, but Rick defends her and embarrasses Danny by pointing out the toy Danny carries in his pocket. At that moment an adult storms in and berates Rick for humiliating Danny, saying Rick shouldn’t be here at all. 

The children go outside and Klara thanks Rick for standing up to Danny for her. Rick tells her how hard it is to watch Josie act like someone she’s not around the other children, and Klara tries to comfort him. He tells her about his and Josie’s “plan,” a loose idea that they will run away from everything together when they are a bit older.

Klara worries that Josie will be angry at her for not responding to the other children’s commands, but Josie never brings it up. One morning, Klara notices that Josie is having trouble breathing and calls for help. Josie is fine, but the Mother tells Josie that she needs to get well for her. She says that if Josie gets better by the weekend, they can go to Morgan Falls. Josie shows Klara pictures of past times she’s gone, and in one points out her sister, Sal, who died when she was young.

When the weekend comes, Josie feigns being well enough to go on the trip and the Mother gets angry. To punish Josie for not being truthful about her health, the Mother goes to the falls with just Klara. On the way there they pass a bull in a field, and Klara is struck with fear at seeing the anger and darkness within the bull. They arrive at the falls and sit together at a picnic table, where the Mother tells Klara she wants Klara to act like Josie. Klara adopts Josie’s posture and voice and answers the Mother’s questions how Josie might. The Mother grows tense during the conversation, and Klara begins to perceive her face as being broken up into different boxes to make sense of the Mother’s changing expressions. Eventually it becomes too much for the Mother and she breaks away, leading Klara towards the waterfall. They leave after a few moments.

On the drive back the Mother thanks Klara for coming along, and tells her not to tell Josie about their conversation at the falls. She makes it clear that Josie is very sick, and Klara responds by saying that she thinks there is still hope. When they return to the house, Klara finds Josie up in her room, sketching. Josie acts fine about being left behind, but Klara can tell she is upset.

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