Chapter 12: Kate

Summary

• Kate dials a number apprehensively, hoping her mother won't answer the call from a new phone.
• Her mother picks up, sounding worried and hurried, and steps away from her work to talk.
• Kate is reluctant to tell her mother about the abuse from Simon or that she is pregnant.
• When pressed by her mother about why she's away, Kate vaguely mentions needing a break from complications with her relationship.
• The conversation reveals that Kate's mother is in Canada, having remarried, and that Kate inherited a cottage in Cumbria from her late Aunt Violet, which was not disclosed earlier to her mother.
• Kate feels guilt over causing her mother pain, reflected in past experiences like her father's death and her refusal to move to Canada with her, ultimately limiting their contact.
• Kate hastily ends the call after asking her mother not to divulge her location to Simon, knocking over items in her room in her distress.
• She reminisces about her connection to insects and nature as a child, her fondness for reading, and the incidents following her father's death, leading to her abandoning her early interests.
• The chapter also describes a previous encounter with Aunt Violet and the house, underlining her detachment from her family's history until receiving the inheritance.
• Kate ventures into the garden, overwhelmed by its vibrancy and the age of the sycamore tree, feeling both comforted and unnerved by the environment.
• Reflection at the beck's side brings back childhood memories, but a damselfly prompts an emotional response tied to her past innocence and her father's death.
• Discovering an unmarked, lichen-covered wooden cross by the sycamore possibly suggests an old grave, which brings unease and leads Kate to rush back inside.
• In the cottage, she contemplates the history of the place and decides to look in the attic for answers about her family and the cottage's past residents.
• The attic contains preserved insects and a large, old bureau with empty and locked drawers, but Kate finds a wrapped package in the first drawer to explore later, hinting at possible secrets kept by Aunt Violet.