Chapter 41

Summary

• It is October 19, 1940, and a search is underway for a missing girl named Flora by Aiden Davies and others at the river's edge.
• Bridie last saw Flora when she left to register for a telephone; Hazel remembers Flora sleeping on a blanket near the river.
• Harry, pale from worry, was looking for Hazel when Flora disappeared and didn’t want to wake her.
• Hazel and Harry had helplessly searched and called for Flora; Bridie notified the police; the community assisted in searching the riverbanks and woods.
• Hazel discovered Flora's teddy bear, Berry, partly submerged in the river, prompting fears that Flora had entered the water.
• Officer Aiden Davies instructed people not to disturb potential footprints near the river, though none were found, suggesting Flora might be in the river.
• Hazel, in a desperate attempt, jumped into the river to search for Flora but was pulled out by Aiden due to the dangers it posed.
• Hazel pointedly accused Mrs. Marchman, a local woman, of taking Flora, claiming she took her to replace another child, Kelty.
• Despite being told to go home, Hazel sprinted to confront Mrs. Marchman but found the woman confused and unknowing of the situation.
• Harry comforted Hazel after the confrontation, and Hazel, recalling a nightmare, directed the search to a nearby well associated with a story they told Flora.
• Upon reaching the well with Harry, they found that Aiden and others were already there for the feast of St. Frideswide, with no sign of Flora.
• A new policeman dismissed the magical significance of the well and insisted that the river was the likely place to find Flora.
• As Hazel is overwhelmed by guilt and fear, blaming herself for Flora's disappearance, her physical state starts to deteriorate, mirroring the feeling of drowning.