47 pages • 1-hour read
One Came Home
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Chapters 13-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence.
Chapter 13 Summary
Georgie blames herself for Agatha’s death, certain that if she hadn’t told Mr. Olmstead about Agatha kissing Billy, Agatha would still be home and alive. Billy warns her to stop thinking such thoughts, but these thoughts give Georgie an idea. She returns to the store and asks the woman where the pigeon hunters might have gone. After some hemming and hawing, the woman tells Georgie to visit the Garrows, who live outside of town. Georgie convinces Billy to take half a day to investigate the family.
Chapter 14 Summary
After traveling on a narrow, winding road, Georgie and Billy arrive at the Garrows’ farm, which is built into a tall hill. The Garrows are a family of redheads, and their eldest daughter has recently disappeared. Georgie can’t believe the disappearance of two redheaded girls from the same area is a coincidence. She shows the family Agatha’s picture, but they haven’t seen her. As the parents go back inside, one of the girls takes an interest in Georgie’s mule, and Georgie notices a ribbon in the girl’s hair that’s “a most unusual shade of blue green” (152). Georgie offers the girl a licorice stick and snatches the ribbon while she’s distracted.
Chapter 15 Summary
The second portion of the road is even more overgrown than the first, but Georgie and Billy manage to make it to a clearing to camp for the night. Georgie shows Billy the ribbon. The two wonder if Agatha could be alive, with Billy insisting they can’t hope before bursting into tears. At this, Georgie realizes Billy still loves Agatha. She calls him out on his feelings, saying he can’t marry his fiancée, and she offers herself as an alternative if he waits. Billy chuckles at this, and Georgie feels beyond embarrassed. She goes for a walk to clear her head, with her heart racing because she just proposed marriage.
At the top of a nearby hill, Georgie falls through a hole, bumping downward. When she comes to a stop, she realizes she fell down a set of stairs. Pushing herself up, she grips a piece of paper and returns to the fire, where she and Billy are shocked to discover she has retrieved a $5 bill.
Chapter 16 Summary
Billy and Georgie return to the cave, where they find more bank notes and supplies to counterfeit bills. In a flash, they realize the Garrows are counterfeiters. Billy grabs one printing plate to take and rushes Georgie back to camp, where they feverishly pack and clean because they want it to look like they were never there. The two travel through the night and cross the river, making camp as the sun comes up.
Chapter 17 Summary
Georgie wakes to blistering heat. Billy is still asleep. Needing something to do, Georgie takes his repeater rifle, hoping to find something to shoot so she can feel more like her old self. Suddenly, she hears gunshots from their camp. Georgie rushes back and finds that Mr. Garrow and another man have tied up Billy. Using her skirt as a blind, Georgie aims at Mr. Garrow, but she can’t bring herself to pull the trigger. She doesn’t know for certain if Mr. Garrow killed Agatha, and even if he deserves to die, she doesn’t want to deprive his family of him. Mr. Garrow’s companion grabs Georgie’s rifle and swings it at Billy. Georgie shoots the man’s hand, taking his thumb off and sending the rifle into the fire. Georgie’s next five shots are nonlethal but no less destructive. Finally, the men run. Georgie unties Billy, who has a few broken ribs, and hurries the two of them along as best she can.
Chapter 18 Summary
It’s clear to Georgie that Billy needs a hospital quickly, but the nearest town is Dog Hollow, where Mr. Garrow and his companion will likely finish Billy and Georgie off. As they travel, Georgie tells stories to keep Billy awake. When they reach the road to Dog Hollow, Billy falls off his mount. Georgie doesn’t know what to do, though she knows she must help him. Billy is feverish, and he confesses that he planned for Georgie to see him kiss Agatha; he hoped Georgie would tell Mr. Olmstead so Mr. Olmstead would break off his courtship with Agatha. Georgie is furious Billy used her, but she can’t stay angry, because he’s dying. A little while later, a wagon comes up the road, and Georgie is shocked to see Mr. Olmstead in it.
Chapters 13-18 Analysis
Freed from the constraints of her grandfather’s expectations, Georgie starts to truly exhibit her own agency in these chapters. Her decision to visit the Garrow family and then to take the ribbon from the girl’s hair shows that she is following her own instincts as she tries to discover the truth. She gradually discovers that the mystery of Agatha’s disappearance is more complex than Georgie ever believed, reinforcing the theme of The Difficulty of Finding the Truth. Georgie’s earlier assumptions, which are based on limited experience and knowledge, also begin to unravel, and she realizes that she hasn’t noticed things about herself or others because she has passively accepted what others have told her. As she comes to see this, she also starts to uncover her truths about herself.
Georgie’s marriage proposal to Billy in Chapter 15 exemplifies this shift in her perspective. Previously, she saw Billy as just a good-looking nuisance who caused emotional turmoil for Agatha. Now, Georgie sees Billy for who he truly is—someone who cares about others and has the gumption to survive through difficult situations. While Georgie’s attraction is largely based in admiration and gratitude rather than true romantic love, her proposal shows how Georgie is changing and that she faces these changes head-on. In addition, her declaration also shows her willingness to acknowledge her feelings openly.
Georgie and Billy’s discovery of the cave and counterfeiting supplies in Chapters 15 and 16 thicken the plot. Until this point, their journey has been about closure and learning the truth about Agatha. With the discovery of the cave, Billy and Georgie realize that they have stumbled into circumstances far beyond what they are equipped to deal with. Their mission now becomes one of survival as they try to stay out of danger and protect their lives. These discoveries not only heighten the stakes but also complicate Georgie’s emotional and moral landscape. The presence of real danger deepens the novel’s investigation of The Inevitability of Change. At the beginning of Chapter 17, Georgie feels overwhelmed by how much has changed since she left home. Back then, she had a simple goal in mind—to discover the truth about Agatha’s disappearance. In just a few short days, however, her entire mission has become so complicated that she doesn’t know what she seeks anymore. Yet her choice to practice with Billy’s repeater rifle, despite preferring her one-shot rifle, shows her growing adaptability. Rather than falling back on reliable objects and truths, Georgie is trying new things and choosing new experiences. She realizes she can’t always be the person she was when she left Placid.
Chapter 17 marks a turning point for Georgie. In the past, she has taken pride in her identity as her sharpshooter, encouraged by her own sense of accomplishment. Her skill has served as a source of identity for her, and she reveled in her grandfather’s praise, seeing it as a badge of honor, which ties to The Impact of Societal Expectations on Individual Choices. In the past, Georgie viewed animals as commodities and hunted them without hesitation, and she also criticized Agatha for her desire to bond with and understand nature. However, when confronted with the possibility of taking human life, Georgie hesitates. With the possibility of Agatha’s death fresh in her mind, Georgie realizes the pain and confusion left behind after a death. While Mr. Garrow and his companion are a clear threat, Georgie can’t bring herself to kill them without irrefutable proof of their guilt; she doesn’t want to cause someone else the type of sorrow that Agatha’s disappearance has brought her. Georgie’s choice to fire nonlethal shots is evidence of her intelligent thinking, as well as the power of nonviolent resistance. Georgie saves herself and Billy by intimidating their attackers, showing her growing wisdom and maturity.
The road itself becomes a symbol of Georgie’s growth. With Billy gravely injured, Georgie must choose where they should go. The road represents her choice and the weight of responsibility. Dog Hollow is closer, and while this could help Billy, Georgie realizes that a shorter journey means nothing if Mr. Garrow and his companion attack them in town. In contrast, Placid is farther away, which could spell disaster for Billy in his condition. The difficulty of this choice mirrors Georgie’s growing understanding of the complex nature of human lives and decisions. Additionally, she grapples with feeling like a failure if she returns home without answers. While she realizes this may be the best option to save Billy, it also causes inner turmoil for her, which reveals the wide array of factors and emotions involved in the decision-making process. Georgie is not selfish for considering her own feelings in addition to Billy’s wellbeing; it shows that she is human. As she navigates this tension, Georgie is no longer the child she was at the novel’s beginning, who unquestioningly followed a path set by others. Instead, she is learning about the tangled nature of adulthood and the conflict between self-interest and duty.
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