The Other Valley

The next day, Edme tells the group that he got in trouble for going to the beach. He didn’t ask for permission, something he rarely did anyway, but his parents responded angrily and grounded him indefinitely. Odile adds this note to her letter to the Conseil.

Jo gives Odile a ride to the school again. Ivret spends the entire lesson giving a strange lecture where she rattles off facts about the valley, most of which the students already know. At the end, she asks students individual questions, such as where their parents work and how many siblings they have. She then tells them that all these facts can be changed by a visitor who goes west. If they alter something in the past, it can cause ripple effects that impact everyone, even if they don’t realize it, when parts of their lives are erased. If the change is big enough, entire valleys can be erased and rewritten. She gives them a new case study for someone named “C.R.,” telling them that this time they will consider granting him permission to leave their valley and travel into the past.

After class, Odile gives her note to Ivret. Ivret asks for more observations about Edme’s parents, and Odile suggests that she could try to get invited to his house. Odile wonders if Ivret is truly interested in Edme or if she is just testing her.

Odile reviews the case of C.R. It is about a man whose son was killed by his uncle, C.R.’s brother. The uncle kidnapped the boy from school, then the boy was found later having been run over by a car, while the uncle was found nearby having driven himself off a cliff. Odile notes that, unlike the case of L.M., the man is younger and did not have a chance to prepare for his son’s death. Conversely, there is a danger in allowing C.R. to visit, as he would be emotional and could interfere—especially if he saw his brother.

Back in school, Edme asks Odile to take his music program to the conservatory for his audition, as he has no way to get there without his parents knowing. Odile agrees. She also offers to take his violin so that, when he’s home, he can practice outside.

After school, Odile goes to the conservatory. The receptionist reminds Odile that Edme’s audition is next week on Thursday. She asks if Odile would like to attend, and Odile gives her name so that a spot will be reserved for her.

In school the next day, Pichegru takes the students on a field trip to the eastern border. They ride a bus to a checkpoint where a guard lets them through, then they travel through a forest to the border. A commandant in the gendarmerie, Jean-Savile, shows them the barracks and the border fence. The students are surprised by its height and imposing nature. He talks about what the students would do if they chose a career with the gendarmerie, including cleaning, guarding the border, and stopping escapees. Odile realizes that the primary purpose of the visit is to scare the children from ever considering trying to escape out of the valley.

On the bus on the way home, Edme asks Odile if he can come over to get his violin to practice. He comes that night at 10 o’clock. Odile takes him down a back path out of her backyard and to the lake. In the bluffs is a cave hidden from view, which Odile thinks of as an “amphitheater.” Edme plays while Odile lies down nearby and listens.

At lunch the next day, Jo asks Odile to go to the fort with her to discuss the new case. Odile admits that she is undecided, as C.R. has a good case but there is a big risk involved. After, the two talk about Alain and Justine sneaking off to the fort together. Jo asks if Odile has feelings for Edme. Although Odile tries to deny it, Jo can tell she is lying and assures her that she has her support.

That day in school, Odile convinces herself that she is going to deny C.R.’s request when Ivret says something that makes her reconsider. While talking about grief, Ivret brings up C.R.’s case, noting that his loss is “impossible for any of [them] to fathom” (102). Odile and Jo discuss it after class, both agreeing that it will sway the students to approve C.R.’s request.

Odile goes with her mother to the grocery store. She spots Edme’s parents in the parking lot. For the first time, she begins to wonder how she could warn Edme about his impending death. Not doing so has begun to feel like a form of betrayal.

That night, Edme comes over again to practice. They go to the amphitheater but are forced to flee when an angry man living nearby yells at them. They end up at the top of the bluffs looking out over the lake. Edme continues his practice.

After, when they get back to Odile’s house, Odile instinctively hugs him. He hugs her back, and they stand together for several moments. Odile then pulls away and goes inside before he can say anything.

On Friday, Jo and Odile face their next test in arguing C.R.’s case. Before, Jo is nervous about denying the request in light of what Ivret said. However, Odile is adamant that she will not change her reasoning.

When Ivret asks the students to go to the sides of the room based on their choice, Jo joins Odile. Two others come with them, while the other five remaining students vote to grant C.R.’s request. When Jo argues, Odile can tell that she does so without conviction, clearly deterred by the sympathetic aspects of C.R.’s case.

When Odile takes her turn, she feels as though she has total command of her argument. She outlines all the ways that sympathy and compassion for C.R. are actually warnings against granting his request, as it would heighten the risk of his intervention. In the end, Ivret cuts Jo and two others, leaving six in the program. For the first time, Odile begins to think that she will earn a Conseil apprenticeship.

On Saturday, Odile goes to the boutique to buy a new swimsuit for another trip to the beach. She chooses a two-piece like Jo and Justine have. That night, she meets Edme, Alain, and Justine on the bluffs above the lake, but Jo has not shown up.

The friends make their way to the beach, while Odile tells them that Jo was cut from the program. She can tell that Justine is being distant with her. When she asks, Justine insists that she is not going to talk about Jo.

When Odile has to take off her dress and show her bathing suit, she becomes self-conscious. Just as she gets herself to calm down, Jo appears with Henri, Tom, and several girls from a downtown school. Jo makes a snarky comment about Odile’s new bathing suit. She then brings out wine, and everyone begins to drink.

After a while, Jo tells the group that she forgot her bathing suit and is going in naked. She demands the others join her. Odile stays behind, embarrassed. She drinks more wine, hoping it will give her courage, but it only makes her feel more upset. She sees Jo and Edme nearby in waist-deep water, talking to each other. She stands up and puts her dress back on. When no one calls to her or seems to care that she isn’t swimming, she leaves.

At home, Odile stands in front of the mirror naked and looks at herself. She angrily gets into bed.

Odile spends most of the next day on the couch, feeling sick and upset after the night before. When night falls, she goes to her room and takes out Edme’s violin case, wondering if he will come. When it reaches midnight, it begins to rain. Odile tells herself that the rain kept Edme away, but she knows that he usually came well before midnight.

On Monday, September 16, it continues to rain. Odile takes Edme’s violin back to school, leaving it under his chair before he comes into the classroom. She avoids him all morning. At lunch, she leaves the room quickly, but Pichegru stops her. He tells her that it is a big deal for her to make it as far as she has in the vetting, as no one at their school has done so in a long time. Odile thanks him, then goes to the library where she hides throughout lunch. She is the first to leave after school, continuing to avoid Edme.

At the vetting program, Ivret gives the remaining six students their final case. J.N. and P.N. are a father and daughter requesting permission to go to the past in Ouest 1 together. Their wife/mother has dementia. They are hoping to visit her before she began to experience symptoms, as the daughter was very young when the mother was diagnosed. Odile decides that it would be best to allow their visit to show that she is capable of sympathy. Her only fear is that visits are typically only granted after a death, but she is confident that she can address any counterarguments.

After class, Ivret asks Odile how she is doing. Odile assures her she is fine, then apologizes for not getting invited to Edme’s home yet. Ivret assures her it is alright, and Odile wonders if her despair is so obvious that even Ivret pities her.

The next morning, Edme is not at school. His father comes into the classroom and asks if anyone has seen him, as he went out the night before and did not come home. The students all agree that they have no information.

At the vetting program, Ivret talks with the class about the timing of visits. While she talks, Odile realizes that Ivret must have known the date of Edme’s death, which explains why she acted so sympathetically toward her after class yesterday, leaving her feeling betrayed.

In the car, Odile’s mother offers her sympathy over Edme’s disappearance. Odile realizes that her mother worked late last night because of it, likely finishing up the visitation records. She feels bitter that her mother never mentioned anything to give her a chance to warn Edme, instead following protocol.

The next day, a search party is formed after school to look for Edme. Odile refuses to go with them, instead going to the bluffs above the lake. She finds Edme’s violin and case there, broken as if by accident, lying on the ground near the edge of the cliff where he played after they were chased out of the amphitheater. She digs a hole and buries them there. That night, she dreams of being in the lake, Edme trapped at the bottom of its endless depths. She refuses to join the search party the next day too. Alain does not come back to school, and no one mentions him.

On Thursday, the day of Edme’s audition, Odile goes to the conservatory. When the receptionist recognizes her, Odile breaks down crying. The woman, Gilberte, sits with her and holds her. She tells Odile that Edme’s program was strong and she was optimistic about his chances. When the time for Edme’s audition passes, Odile leaves, grateful that Gilberte never lied and assured Odile that Edme would be found safe.

Odile does not go to the vetting program. Instead, she waits nearby on a dock by the lake until her mother gets out of work.

On Friday at lunch, the students begin to whisper excitedly to each other. They leave the schoolgrounds and go to the lake, and Odile follows. She sees Alain with Edme’s father getting into a boat. They travel to the area below the cliffs as someone directs them from above. They pull Edme’s body from the lake. Pichegru tries to talk to Odile, but she flees, running into the forest above the school. She only stops when she comes to the border fence.