77 pages 2 hours read

James McBride

Song Yet Sung

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008

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Chapters 15-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 15 Summary: “speak to the pot”

Amber and Liz are on the bungy, tied up near Cambridge City. Amber worries about having been away from Kathleen for so long and is exhausted from fighting against the choppy waters all night. Liz continues to have terrible headaches and strange sensations, particularly when she touches the sack given to her by the Woolman: “Each time she ran her hand along the last of those five knots, she felt a deep ache, a terrible premonition of something gone wrong” (194). Liz senses that two people are missing.

Liz asks Amber about the code and about the song the Woman with No Name sang to her, but Amber is impatient with what he sees as foolish talk. Amber asks Liz how she knew Patty was coming upon them last night. Liz replies that she does not know, that something is happening to her: “My head’s…not right. I’m seeing things I ain’t supposed to be seeing” (198). Amber says they must keep going to Cambridge City, where the “coach wrench” is—the key to the code held by the blacksmith. When they see the blacksmith, they must not speak directly to him but to address a pot nearby.