Whistling Past the Graveyard

At night, Starla commits to escaping and bringing James. She thinks of complex lies to tell whoever picks up her and James. When Starla hears Wallace snoring, she pushes the stuck window until it falls to the ground. The sound doesn’t wake Wallace, so, using a blanket and a basket, Starla lowers James to the ground before she slides out. Outside in the woods, a storm arrives.

To take her mind off the growing storm and James’s sobs, Starla tries “[w]histling past the graveyard” (91), imagining Christmas in Nashville with her mother and father. The storm resides, but a truck driven by Wallace almost hits Starla and James. Wallace tries to drown Starla in a pool of water. Eula begs him to stop, and Starla promises not to tell. Wallace desists but says that if Starla tries to escape again, he’ll kill her and James.

Eula rocks Starla in a chair. Eula is bloody and bruised, and Starla says that Eula kidnapped her and James. Eula claims that no one wanted James and that if she didn’t pick up Starla, something bad would have happened to her.