Heartwood

Santo shares that the hike was difficult but that “magic” also happened. Once, he was walking with Sparrow along the side of the road when a large truck stopped. Santo is terrified of hitchhiking, and he immediately became nervous. The man rolled down his window, asked if they were hiking the trail, and gave each of them a $50 bill. Another time, Santo found a pair of free boots in a box just after his pair broke. Santo wears size-14 shoes, so this was no small thing. When he had to quit the hike because his father became seriously ill with COVID-19, Sparrow was exceptionally kind.

Lena spends Monday online, researching. She falls asleep while working and then wakes up disoriented and troubled, having dreamed of her estranged daughter, Christine. She had forgotten that she had a scheduled “visit” from one of the community administrators and is flustered when the woman arrives. These visits are check-ins on residents who live in one of the facility’s apartments, meant to provide facility staff with the opportunity to see inside the residents’ units. Lena’s is a mess: The floor is carpeted with plant specimens, and her desk is full of news reports about Valerie. The administrator informs Lena that she will send housekeeping in, at Lena’s expense. Chastened, Lena “meekly” acquiesces.

As she reflects on Christine, who eloped at age 18 with a young man and went to Canada, Lena hears the ding of her computer. There, she finds that she has a new message from TerribleSilence. One of his high school friends works at the “torture school,” his moniker for the military training facility that he is sure is behind Valerie’s disappearance. TerribleSilence is increasingly angry at the presence of the military in the woods and the use of his taxes to fund their operations. He and Lena discuss calling the tip line to inform them of their hunch about the military facility, but TerribleSilence does not want to be on the search’s radar. He is sure that the warden and the military are working together and that the warden cannot be trusted. However, when Lena watches the clip of the press conference, she finds herself sympathizing with Bev’s obvious emotion as she discusses the case.

Valerie explains more of her story to her mother. She writes that she woke up alone and attempted to escape. She fell into a deep pit that the young man had built and then covered with a shallow layer of grass and twigs. He helped her out, gave her a sandwich (which someone had clearly made for him), and then tied her up again. She asked for her backpack so that she could take her medication, but he told her that medication is filled with poison and that she should avoid it. It dawned on her that he was just a teenager in crisis, and she told him that she was a nurse, urging him to seek out psychiatric help. He began to cry, and she offered him her bandana. Later, she went to sleep and woke up alone with her backpack sitting in front of her.

Bev meets Mike at a local diner. He is blunt, telling her that her search is “going like shit” (168). He floats the idea that Valerie hasn’t set a signal fire because she is afraid of someone, and Bev’s hackles rise. She does not subscribe to any of the conspiracy theories surrounding the possibility of kidnapping, especially by someone from the military facility. She insists to Mike that the head of SERE has been helpful and that he isn’t “covering” for someone who has gone rogue.

Later in the day, there is a multi-agency debriefing session. Bev learns that Tanya, the warden who has spent the most time with Gregory, does not suspect him of foul play. Although Valerie decided during her hike that she no longer loved Gregory, it seems that he took the news well and expected to remain friends. She also learns that Santo, Valerie’s fellow hiker, described her as everyone else has so far: She is a kind, thoughtful woman who makes friends everywhere she goes. The tip line, Tanya reports, is full of wild theories, none of which have been helpful. Bev instructs her to set up a team of people to comb the various online forums dedicated to the case to see if they can find anything of use.

Gregory hates law enforcement and corrects his interviewers’ terminology, noting that he and Valerie do not use the term “spouse.” He is worried about her and notes that he tried to get her to quit the hike several times; however, she was part of a supportive trail community of fellow hikers. He cannot sleep because he keeps picturing gruesome scenarios, and he desperately wants her to return. He reveals that Valerie helped him get sober and says that he fears he will relapse without her.

Leanne went to high school with Valerie and is sure that she saw her getting a manicure in Frederick, Maryland, on Friday. She didn’t realize that she was missing at the time and now feels intensely guilty, as she wishes that someone had intervened when she herself was struggling as a child.

Valerie writes that the boy vanished after returning her pack to her. She carefully made her way out of the clearing and ran as hard as she could, losing a boot along the way. She thought she saw one of the white trail blazes marking the Appalachian Trail, but it was a mirage. She sat down and ate one of her last energy bars, utterly lost.

Lena waits in vain for a message from TerribleSilence. Two days go by, during which she does not leave her apartment. Warren calls her several times, imploring her to come to the dining hall for a meal. She finally agrees and is instantly uncomfortable: Everyone at Warren’s table is shocked to see Lena at dinner (she has never even been in the dining room), and Lena feels their judgment. She had avoided the dining room because she did not want to share her “life story”—something that always interests the residents—but now finds their conversation tedious and wishes that someone would ask her about herself. Her mother, a Polish immigrant, was impregnated by her priest. When her husband found out that the child, Lena, was not his, he left. Lena’s mother did her best to raise her, but they had very little support, and Lena did not feel much love from her mother. She loved the man she thought was her biological father, and in her own way, she also loved the priest. She shares this history with no one and leaves before dessert is served.

Bev receives word from her superior officer that based on the lack of progress, he does not advise continuing the ground search. Today’s mission will only be aerial. Bev is disappointed but understands his decision. She breaks this news to her team and to Valerie’s parents, trying to communicate that she is not giving up on finding Valerie. She spends the rest of the day speaking with Valerie’s parents. They sing the praises of their daughter, reminisce about her as a child, and note how attached she was to Janet, in particular. Part of why they have always been so devoted to Gregory is because Valerie is highly “sensitive” and Gregory understood her needs. As Janet worries that she could have mothered Valerie better, Bev offers that no parent or child is perfect and says that whatever happened to Valerie, her parents bear no responsibility for it.

Santo calls Warden Cody to talk. He is still worried about Sparrow. She was one of the few people who made him feel that he belonged in the woods. He is upset that he left her alone on the trail to attend his father’s funeral. Cody is sympathetic and assures Santo that his team will do everything they can to find Valerie.

This shelter log, written by Sparrow and addressed to Santo, contains a cryptic poem dedicated to the spork, a combination spoon-fork used by hikers to conserve space in their packs.