Emaleen awakens and tries not to be afraid since she is often alone in the house when her mother is working. She comforts herself by pulling out her silver thimble, where her imaginary friend Thimbelina lives. She makes them hot cocoa and waits for her mother to return. After convincing herself that she must look for her mother, Emaleen leaves the house, trying to forget every frightening thing that she’s been told about the woods. There’s a reason why Emaleen feels compelled to search for her mother, but she says it’s a “secret” that “ma[kes] her feel ashamed. Like she’s told a lie or ruined something” (16).

Emaleen thinks that she’s following the path to Uncle Syd’s house, but the thick, dense underbrush disorients her and causes her to get lost. She hears strange sounds and sees a witch’s hair in the trees. She fords the creek and climbs to higher ground to get her bearings, but she still has no idea where she is. Remembering a story that Grandma Jo told her, Emaleen resolves to stay put, hoping someone will find her. She cries out for her mother and clutches the thimble for comfort, wishing that her imaginary friend could rescue her.

Birdie realizes that Emaleen is missing and runs to the lodge to get her boss Della’s help. Syd also joins the search, and they comb the area with no luck. Birdie feels sick with guilt until they see Arthur emerge from the woods, carrying Emaleen on his shoulders. She is unharmed, save a few scratches, and has been crying. Emaleen apologizes to Birdie for getting lost in the woods. Della is angry with Birdie for leaving the child alone, and Birdie says that Della has no idea what raising a child is like but immediately regrets saying it. Della says, “I don’t want to lose you two” (24), and she switches Birdie from working nights to working mornings.

Emaleen is tired and begs Birdie to let her stay at the cabin while she works. Birdie refuses and forces her to get dressed. As they leave, they see a baby moose crying and looking for its mother. Birdie waits tables in the lodge for breakfast while Emaleen colors at a table. Emaleen spills hot cocoa on the table, and Birdie sends her upstairs to watch television. Arthur comes in and sits at the bar, which isn’t open yet. He orders chamomile tea and says that he is fine sitting alone in the dark. Birdie thanks Arthur for helping find Emaleen. She asks if he still lives on the North Fork, and he says yes but little else.

Arthur begins coming to the lodge every morning for breakfast. Birdie talks to him, but he says little in return. She asks him what happened to his ear and jokes that he must have gotten into a bar fight, but Arthur says that he doesn’t drink. Arthur has large hands, blonde hair, and a scraggly beard. Birdie stares into his eyes, and their unique color transfixes her. Walking away from the table, she thinks about touching Arthur’s skin.

Della says that Roy got drunk and wrecked his car. He’s in the hospital and will have to face drunk-driving charges. He’s lived with his sister, Evelyn, since his wife, Lois, kicked him out. Lois is recovering from a hysterectomy and caring for their children. Birdie feels guilty that she used cocaine with Roy that night at the bar. She agrees to help Della raise money to help Roy and his family pay his medical bills. Roy rides to the lodge on a bicycle with his arm in a sling. Emaleen is happy to see “Uncle Roy” and wants a bike like his. Birdie questions his judgment since he is there when his wife and children are at home and since he’s heading to jail for drunk driving. Roy says that Birdie will understand one day when she is older.

Birdie enjoys sitting at the lodge picnic table and gazing at the mountains. Her mind is filled with guilty thoughts about her failing as a mother and a person flood. She doesn’t want to turn out like Roy or her mother, who abandoned her and her sister, Liz. Arthur arrives and sits with her at the picnic table. Birdie points to the mountains and says that she has many happy memories of being in nature from her childhood and often wonders if being outside might fix her problems. Arthur lives near the spot that she points to and says he enjoys spending time there. Birdie likes how Arthur smells and is attracted to him but refrains from making an advance for fear that she might “spook him.”

Birdie and Emaleen watch the movie version of Heidi, and Birdie asks Emaleen if she wants to move to the mountains like Heidi. Birdie thinks back to her childhood. After their mother abandoned them to move to Florida, Liz and Birdie lived with Grandma Jo and Grandpa Hank. In her youth, Birdie sought escape from her pain through adventure, adrenaline, and, eventually, sex and substances. She became pregnant with Emaleen after having a relationship with a traveling worker named Rex. Birdie and the baby stayed with Grandma Jo, and Birdie thought that “[s]he would be grounded, weighted, finally content” (42). However, motherhood didn’t fix Birdie as she had hoped, and eventually, she found it too hard to live under Grandma Jo’s roof. That’s when she began working at the lodge and leaving Emaleen alone at night. Birdie emerges from her memory, and Emaleen says that she will move to the mountains as long as they stay together. Birdie thinks that she can be a better mother away from the lodge, but Emaleen says she is a perfect mother.

Warren, Arthur’s father, is a retired Alaskan state trooper who flies a bush plane and lives alone with his dog, Spinner. Warren watches Arthur drive away and wishes that his wife, Carol, were still alive to help him know what to do. Arthur has been returning home more frequently to visit Birdie at the lodge for several weeks. After Della confronts him about Arthur and Birdie, Warren is worried. He doesn’t know Birdie well but has heard the stories about Child Protective Services visiting her twice. However, Warren empathizes with Birdie’s position as a single mother.

Warren longs for Arthur to find happiness and not be alone. He knows that if Carol were there, she’d wish for the same, yet she would encourage Arthur to break it off with Birdie just as before. Warren misses the tenderness that Carol had with Arthur since “he isn’t the same” and laments that he doesn’t have a partner in handling the situation (47). Warren goes outside to the uprooted tree where the suspended earth and roots create a cave-like area, digging until he finds the freshly disembodied bear skin. Warren puts on the skin to understand what being Arthur is like.