One Came Home

After a good night’s rest, Georgie wakes to the smell of Billy cooking the bacon she brought. Thinking he raided her food stash, she tears out of bed, only to find the world outside the lean-to filled with pigeon feathers—both floating and littering the ground. At once, Georgie concludes this camp belongs to pigeon hunters who hire local workers to help with the birds so the hunters can then sell the meat in the city. The feathers remind Georgie of when Mr. Olmstead asked to court Agatha. After a walk with him, Agatha returned with a book about birds from the Olmstead Hotel’s library. It was obvious to Georgie that Agatha loved the book, and Georgie was furious because she Agatha promised to stay with her and run the store—not get involved with the first suitor who gave her a nice book.

The sisters’ argument was halted by the arrival of the nesting pigeons, which brought hunters and tourists from all around the country. The store was abuzz with activity from opening to closing. Their grandfather put Georgie to work cleaning pigeon droppings, and she resented that Agatha was allowed to leave whenever she wanted, as long as it involved Mr.