Emaleen feels that, for a while, things are wonderful. Arthur stays with them, and they all sleep in the cozy cabin together. They climb the mountain to pick blueberries, and she quickly notices that Arthur easily gets tired. Emaleen decides that knowing Arthur is a bear is a “good secret” and resolves not to tell her mother. When alone with Arthur, she asks him about being a bear. He describes it as a dream and says that he doesn’t know which life is real.

The weather turns cold and rainy, and they are trapped inside the cabin. Arthur’s health declines, and he refuses to eat. Birdie interprets this to mean that he wants them to leave, but Arthur says, “I am doing this” (194), and begs her to stay. Emaleen makes Arthur a sandwich, but he shouts at her when she offers it. She hides outside, but there is a bad smell, like something rotting. Emaleen tells Birdie that she has something important to show her. She leads her mother to where Arthur buried his bear skin, revealing that Arthur is a bear and is sick because he needs to put on his skin. Birdie angrily dismisses Emaleen, asking if this is one of her “pretend games.” Birdie refuses to listen, and Emaleen cries.

Warren searches his house for Wendy’s dollhouse to give it to Emaleen for Christmas. Since Carol’s death, Warren has become reclusive, but getting to know Emaleen and Birdie has given him a new life. He looks forward to visiting them on the mountain and recognizes Birdie’s “tenacity of spirit that remind[s] him of Carol” (201). He calls Wendy to ask where to find the dollhouse and is reminded of the physical and emotional distance between him and his grown daughters. Wendy invites him to visit her and her family, but Warren knows that he likely won’t.

He finds the dollhouse in the attic and a box that Carol created to hold the children’s mementos. Arthur’s only contains a blue collar, which plunges Warren into painful memories of coming home and finding a bear cub leashed and tied to the porch. Carol insisted that it was the only way to keep him safe. Warren thought that they should discard the bear skin, but Carol refused to allow him to give up his wildness. Warren had horrific nightmares about bears, including a recurring one where he shot Arthur. Warren also remembers a story that he was once told about how bears are remarkably human-like in their capacity to show affection and care for their young. Yet they can inexplicably turn murderous on a dime and kill and eat their mate or their young. Warren witnessed Arthur’s tenderness with Carol when he was a child, especially at Carol’s deathbed, and he is convinced that love has transformed Arthur fully into a human.

Arthur becomes so gaunt and weak that he can barely walk. Emaleen convinces Birdie that they must help Arthur put on his bear hide. Birdie concedes internally that she’s known that something is different about him all along. She and Emaleen help him walk outside to dig up the rotting pelt. After spreading it out flat, Birdie helps Arthur undress and climb into the skin. He asks them to leave him alone, and they return to the cabin.

When they go outside to investigate, Arthur and the skin are gone. Using the binoculars, Birdie can see Arthur in the distance. She takes her gun and Emaleen, and they track Arthur into the mountains. From afar, they watch him eat berries and a squirrel. Birdie calls out his name, and she can tell that the bear recognizes them. Arthur moves away quickly, higher into the mountains. Birdie forces Emaleen to stay while she follows Arthur. She resolves that “[s]he would leave everything behind to be with him” (212). When she returns, Emaleen is angry that she left her, and she walks toward the cabin. Birdie covers her with her coat, and Emaleen cries. At the cabin, Birdie tells Emaleen to leave the cabin door open all night.

Birdie stops doing chores, and the cabin becomes dirty and so cold that Emaleen must wear all her clothes to stay warm. They stop bathing, and Birdie stops cooking their food. The bear enters the cabin and raids all their stored food, leaving a mess behind. Birdie goes to the creek to fish, and they eat what they catch while watching Arthur fish across the creek. Emaleen knows winter is coming, and Arthur eats everything to prepare for hibernation. Emaleen is scared, and Birdie tells her that she must remain quiet and not run away from Arthur. Emaleen asks to go home, but they sleep next to the creek. Emaleen wishes on a star that someone will rescue them because she fears that her mother can’t protect her.

Birdie watches Arthur feasting and knows that he is dangerous but is also in awe of his wildness. She concedes, “I am exactly where I want to be” (220). The high that she experiences now is better than any she’s ever had, and she never wants to return to her normal life.

Emaleen is happy that she and her mother are back safely inside the cabin despite having no food. While Birdie rests on the porch, Emaleen plays with her pretend magic pony and Thimbelina. Emaleen rides her magic pony faster until she is at the edge of the woods and hears her mother screaming her name. Suddenly, Emaleen is face-to-face with the bear, and even though she knows she isn’t supposed to, she runs. Birdie shoots the bear. The bear runs away, and Birdie says that she must follow him since she likely wounded him. Emaleen waits for a long time, hoping that her mother will return. She feels sick that her mother had to shoot Arthur because of her.

Emaleen is hungry and climbs into the cache, hoping to find food. There’s no food, but she feels safe up high and kicks the ladder so that nothing can get her. Emaleen sleeps deeply but wakes to see a large shadow pass overhead and hear a knocking sound. She jumps down from the cache and realizes that her mother never returned. Emaleen searches for her mother and sees her lying on the ground with her limbs at odd angles. She can see the bear crouched nearby, and she races back to the cabin. Resolving that the only way she can save her mother is to hike for help, Emaleen packs a bag and hikes toward the lodge.

Warren finishes restoring the dollhouse and finds replacements for the doll family at a store in town. He packs the plane with a resupply and the dollhouse and flies out to the cabin. When he arrives, no one is there to greet him, and he disconcertingly finds the cabin abandoned and in disrepair. Warren grabs the shotgun and begins searching outside. When he finds a trail of blood, he follows it until he finds a downed tree, which has strands of Emaleen’s hair on it. Then, he sees Birdie’s body. He confirms that she’s dead and immediately resumes his search for Emaleen and Arthur.

After finding no trace of her near the cabin, Warren takes off in the plane, searching from above. He finally spots Emaleen and finds a safe place to land near the water. Emaleen is frantic and has a blister but is otherwise unharmed. Warren loads her into the plane despite her pleas that they must help her mother. She also apologizes, saying that it’s her fault. Warren is thankful that Emaleen is safe but dreads telling her the truth.