Chapter 27: Kate
Summary
- Kate assesses her financial situation, realizing she only has two hundred pounds left.
- She is hesitant to enter Kirkby's Books and Gifts for a possible job opportunity.
- Kate is facing urgent utility bills and is struggling to support herself financially.
- She is inspired by Aunt Violet's book "The British Gardener" to start working in the overgrown garden.
- Despite her inexperience and pregnancy, she begins gardening to provide food for herself and her baby.
- Kate experiences an unsettling moment with a crow while gardening.
- While gardening, she learns about different plants and starts to imagine eating the vegetables she has uncovered.
- Kate has a strange, almost supernatural experience in the garden with insects, feeling a warm surge within her.
- After passing out, she wakes up and finds no insects around her, wondering if she had hallucinated.
- Kate decides to seek the truth about her family history and the Weywards.
- She visits the Lancaster council office to investigate her ancestral records and finds limited information about her relatives.
- Documents reveal a great-grandmother who potentially died in childbirth and a distant ancestor tried for witchcraft.
- Records show gaps in her family history, sparking a suspicion that her ancestors might have wanted to stay hidden.
- Kate resolves to be brave for her daughter's future and heads to Kirkby's Books and Gifts.
- Before leaving the house, she cuts her hair short as a symbol of change and empowerment.
- On her walk to the village, reflecting on her family's history, Kate feels a sense of strength and connection to nature.
- Overcoming her fear of the crow, she proceeds to the bookstore with newfound confidence.
- Emily from the bookstore is surprised by Kate's resemblance to Violet and listens as Kate inquires about a job as an assistant.