Lena and Ella board a barge bound for Hoffman Island with other confused and frightened women and children. She searches for Mutti and Enzo and thinks she sees them on a barge behind hers but cannot be certain. A pale, well-dressed woman explains that delousing eliminates lice to prevent typhus and mentions the possible use of Zyklon B. The woman reveals her son died during the voyage, and her husband was hospitalized on Ellis Island.

As they pass the Statue of Liberty, Lena reflects that the promise to welcome the tired and the poor does not seem to apply to those judged ill or dependent.

The barge arrives at Hoffman Island, a massive brick building with multiple wings and smokestacks. Guards announce that luggage will be fumigated using a vacuum cyanide process and that passengers must proceed to the delousing chambers. The women and children are herded into a cement hallway, given burlap bags, and ordered to remove all their clothing. Lena undresses herself and a crying Ella, placing their clothes and her hidden money pouch in the bag.

Hundreds of naked, shivering women and children are forced into a windowless cement room with shower nozzles in the ceiling. The showers release a chemical-smelling liquid that burns Lena’s eyes and nostrils, followed by plain water. Afterward, nurses spray the women’s armpits, pubic areas, and hair with a stinging mixture that smells of kerosene or turpentine. The nurse also sprays Ella’s hair as she cries.

The women retrieve their fumigated clothes, which now smell strongly of disinfectant. A nurse informs Lena that passengers from another barge have been placed in quarantine and may remain there for weeks, months, or years if they survive. Lena realizes Mutti and Enzo may be among them.

Back at Ellis Island, Lena goes through another processing line and asks an officer to help her find Mutti and Enzo. He checks his manifest and informs her they are being deported. Enzo has been deemed “feebleminded” (44), and since he is a minor, Mutti must accompany him back to Germany. Lena protests, but the officer threatens to commit Enzo to the “Psychopathic Pavilion” (45), a “hospital for the idiots, the insane, and the epileptics” (45), if she continues arguing.

Lena asks to be deported as well, but the officer explains she cannot afford a return ticket and has already been approved for entry. He directs her to the currency exchange and tells her to meet her sponsor at the kissing post.

Desperate to say goodbye, Lena obtains permission to see her family. The officer directs her to the detention rooms, where she finds Mutti and Enzo behind a heavy mesh cage door. Mutti confirms the deportation, and Lena notices a chalk H on her jacket. Mutti explains she has been experiencing weakness in her chest and that officials believe she is not strong enough to work and would become a public charge. She insists Lena and Ella must stay in America, arguing it will make it easier for her and Enzo to return if they already have family in the country.

Mutti tries to give Lena her money pouch, but Lena refuses, offering her own instead. Both Mutti and Enzo insist Lena keep her share for Ella. They discuss how Lena should persuade Silas to take her and Ella in.

Through the mesh door, they press their palms together. Ella waves and says “Auf wiedersehen” (50) for the first time. Mutti tells Lena to start a new life and says they will see her again soon, but when Lena asks her to promise, Mutti does not say the words.

Lena exchanges her German marks for US dollars and buys a roll, cheese, and water from a food vendor, who adds a free pear for Ella. As they eat, a grizzled man approaches Lena about work and presses a pamphlet into her hand. She moves away quickly, leaving behind her half-full water bottle. A nun then approaches and gives Lena a paper with the address for Our Lady of Grace church in Hoboken, in case she needs help.

At the kissing post, Lena observes immigrants reuniting with waiting family members. A deep voice calls out, “Conti?” (57), and Lena identifies the speaker as Silas Wolfe, a tall, heavily built man. When Lena explains that Mutti and Enzo are being deported, Silas becomes angry. He complains that he paid for a worker and a housekeeper, not a “filthy, skinny girl with a hungry young’un” (59).

Lena again claims that Ella’s father died before their wedding. Silas begins to walk away, causing Lena to follow him, and he waits for her near the registry office. There, Silas demands an explanation for the deportation and asks for a refund for the tickets he purchased, but the clerk refuses. When a guard warns Silas to calm down, Lena intervenes and asks him to sign her papers because she and Ella have nowhere else to go. Silas agrees, and the clerk produces Lena’s admission document. Silas signs.

After a ferry ride to Hoboken, Lena follows Silas through the busy town, observing motorcars, trolleys, and colorful advertisements. She notices a flashing sign for the American Eugenics Society warning against people with “bad heredity” (66), including the “feebleminded” (66). At the train station, a man tells Lena to go back where she came from and spits at her feet. A boy calls her a “dirty, smelly immigrant” (68) and grabs at her satchel. Silas intervenes, and the man leaves.

On the train, Silas shares a boxed ham-and-pickle sandwich and Coca-Cola with Lena and Ella. During the seven-hour journey, Lena observes shantytowns near the tracks and later expansive countryside. After arriving in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Silas drives them up steep mountain roads in a black truck. They pass modest homes and scattered farms, and Lena wonders what their new home will be like.

They arrive at Wolfe Hollow Farm, a remote hand-hewn cabin with a tin roof, barn, chicken coop, and garden. Two barefoot children, Jack Henry and his older sister, Bonnie, run out to greet their father. Bonnie questions Lena’s appearance and the presence of the baby. Silas introduces Lena as their new caretaker and explains that Mutti and Enzo did not come.

Silas asks whether the sheriff visited while he was away. The children admit they hid in the root cellar after Jack Henry first confronted the sheriff with a rifle. Silas reprimands him, stating that guns are meant for hunting and warning that killing the sheriff would bring severe consequences, including lynching.

Inside the house, Jack Henry is welcoming, while Bonnie remains guarded. They serve Lena and Ella corn bread soaked in milk. Bonnie shows Lena the washing machine in the shed and warns her about the wringer, which she calls a mangler, mentioning that her mother once treated an injury to her hand. Lena praises Bonnie’s skills and expresses interest in learning. Silas brings in a wooden tub for bathing and assigns chores for the following day while Lena and Ella wash.

Bonnie brings Lena a blue housedress and undergarments that belonged to her late mother, along with a jumper for Ella. Although Lena is grateful, she senses Bonnie’s resentment. Alone, Lena reflects on the unsettling conversation about hiding from the sheriff and considers that if any real danger threatens Ella, she may have to leave despite having nowhere else to go.

Lena bathes Ella and then herself in the kitchen tub, carefully washing the delousing chemicals from their hair. She changes into Silas’s late wife’s clothes, surprised by how well they fit. Upstairs, she studies family photographs in the hallway, including a wedding portrait of a younger, more hopeful-looking Silas and his wife. For a moment, Lena wonders whether Silas could be hiding something darker, but she dismisses the suspicion as unlikely, reasoning that his visible presence on the property would make little sense if he were avoiding arrest.

From the bedroom window, Lena observes the farm buildings and surrounding land, again questioning why the children must hide from the sheriff and what role she and Ella might be expected to play. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, she lies down beside Ella, intending only to rest briefly, but falls asleep for the entire night.

Lena wakes at dawn and goes downstairs to find Silas eating breakfast alone. He begins to smile when he sees her, then lowers his eyes and looks away. He tells her Bonnie washed her clothes the previous night and reminds her that she is there to care for his children, not the other way around.

Lena asks why the children must hide from the sheriff. Silas refuses to explain, grows irritated by her questions, and tells her she must hide as well when the sheriff comes. She then asks about being paid so she can send money to her family. Silas reacts angrily, stating she will receive no wages, and that room and board are her only compensation. He warns her not to raise the subject again.

Shaken by the realization that she will not be paid, Lena resolves to work harder and make herself indispensable. When Bonnie and Jack Henry come downstairs, Bonnie criticizes Lena’s cooking instructions. Ella wakes crying, and Bonnie’s attitude shifts as she gently retrieves her, singing to calm her. A brief argument erupts when Jack Henry claims Bonnie cannot read. Lena eases the tension by offering to teach Bonnie German words as a shared secret.

Bonnie explains that their father says Sheriff Dixon is a bad man but does not give further details. She also reveals that she and Jack Henry stopped attending school after their mother died. Bonnie then shows Lena the pantry, root cellar, and other parts of the property, explaining how the family stores food and barters with neighbors. The root cellar reminds Lena of hiding during wartime bombings.

At the springhouse, Bonnie offers Lena a taste of wild cherry bitters and explains what moonshine is, noting that Silas does not make it. When Lena describes Enzo being deported for being labeled “feebleminded,” Bonnie admits that some people have said the same about her family. She overheard Silas discussing this with a man named Mr. Corbin. Lena reassures her.

Bonnie later reveals a second hiding place beneath a shed. When Lena again asks why they must hide, Bonnie says it is because others think they are not smart.