Chapter 43

Summary

• Hazel is briefly confused, thinking she is safe and warm in bed, but she quickly remembers the reality and loss of her sister, Flora.
• She wakes up in the back of a car with her head on Harry’s lap, feeling disoriented and questioning her surroundings.
• Hazel stumbles out of the car and into her mother's arms, and the lack of comforting words from her mother confirms that Flora is still missing.
• Left alone in a bed, Hazel is overwhelmed with guilt and shame about Flora's disappearance, and she is unable to find solace in the efforts being made to find her sister.
• Hazel decides that her stories of Whisperwood, which she believes led to Flora's disappearance, must be destroyed and prepares to dispose of them secretly.
• Slipping out through her window at night, Hazel goes to the riverbank with a knapsack full of her stories and one by one lets the pages fly into the river, hoping to erase the guilt associated with them.
• Seeking redemption at St. Margaret's church, Hazel makes a blood vow on the altar to give up storytelling, Whisperwood, and Harry if only Flora is returned to her.
• Hazel is found shivering with fever and her mother insists on taking her to the hospital. Before they leave, Hazel screams at Harry that she never wants to see him again, trying to honor her vow.