Confined to her cell, Minnow thinks about her missing hands and punches the metal bed frame until she bleeds, feeling the Prophet has permanently “ruined” her.

She recalls waking after the amputation to find her stumps stitched closed with embroidery thread—proof the Prophet wanted her alive to marry him. When two of the wives, Mabel and Vivienne, tried to force a sedative down her throat, she laughed, startling them, before they forced her to drink.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, she saw her mother holding one of the severed hands and crying; when she woke again, the hands were gone. She then had a vision of a boy with “sharp, green eyes” (175) she believed was Charlie, the Prophet’s god, hovering above the bloody floor. She begged him for help, but he raised his hand toward her forehead, light beams emerged, and he walked out without healing her. Enraged, Minnow screamed until Mabel and Vivienne sedated her again. They moved her to the maidenhood room, boarded up the window, and her mother visited and prayed over her stumps—but Minnow turned away, uncaring.

Dr. Wilson tells Minnow that melting snow has allowed investigators to resume collecting evidence, then asks about Jude’s mother, Loretta Leland. Minnow says she died of stomach cancer, but Wilson shows her photos of Jude’s burned cabin and a decomposed body nearby, and a second photo showing a face with a shattered skull. He states Loretta died of a massive gunshot wound to the head and suggests the Prophet’s killer and Loretta’s killer could be the same person. Minnow accuses him of trying to blame Jude. Wilson points out he never said Jude’s name. After he leaves, Minnow silently vows never to reveal the truth about Jude’s mother.

Minnow reflects on her lack of knowledge about sexuality compared to other girls attending sex-education class. In her cell, she struggles to read a poetry book Angel brought from the library until Miss Bailey visits, offering a workbook and teaching her phonics. Minnow learns to sound out and blend letters to form words like “moss” and “tree,” and the act of reading makes the forest of her childhood feel alive again in her mind.

Minnow and Angel play “I Never” with Rashida from a nearby cell. When Angel says she has never met her father, Minnow drinks. Angel explains that she is lucky that she can choose who she wants to be without the influence of her father’s genetics. To her, most girls seem apologetic for how they are. In response, Minnow points out that she isn’t sure who she is or what’s right, as her mind was so strongly influenced by the Prophet. She offers a story as an example.

At 15, Minnow was breaking ice on a pond when lights crossed the sky. After someone correctly identified them as shooting stars, the Prophet claimed they were Gentile bombs burning out in God’s protective dome, and the adults accepted his explanation. Minnow tells Angel she was the only one not comforted, because she remembered the lights were meteors: Knowing the other adults must have remembered too made her feel “broken.”

Dr. Wilson tells Minnow that Philip Lancaster wants to see her. She refuses, afraid to look him in the eye, but recounts the encounter to Wilson. After escaping the Community, she was resting under a bridge when Philip approached, snatched her glove, saw her stump, and claimed the Devil had taken his soul. He grabbed her arm, squeezing her stump. She swept his legs out and, standing over him, saw his vivid green eyes—eyes she perceived as “godly”—and kicked him with steel-toed boots.

Philip has paranoid schizophrenia. She broke his molars and ruptured his spleen. Afterward, her feeling of power vanished, replaced by horror, and she vomited.

Dr. Wilson tells Minnow that Philip is back on medication and doesn’t blame her. They discuss motives for murder, and when Wilson asks who in the Community might have been emotionally distressed, Minnow suggests her mother, calling her “weak.” Wilson shows her a hospital record describing her mother’s severe panic attacks and postpartum chemical imbalance after Minnow’s birth. He suggests that her mother may have been sick, but Minnow uses the word “weak” to avoid guilt. The conversation makes Minnow realize that her mother is a murder suspect.

Minnow becomes enraged and accuses Wilson of being a coward running from his own family. He retaliates by listing other suspects: Waylon Leland stabbing the Prophet, Constance setting him on fire, or Jude killing him because Minnow manipulated him. Minnow screams at him to stop. Officer Prosser enters, slams her to the floor, and locks the cell. Wilson orders Prosser to tranquilize her.

In Mrs. New’s office following her outburst, Minnow learns her stumps were re-injured and had to be stapled. Mrs. New insists on reassigning her to a new counselor, but Minnow refuses. Mrs. New informs her that Dr. Wilson is taking an indeterminate break while his progress is evaluated.

When Angel asks who Minnow misses, she says her grandfather, Grampy, explaining he might have prevented the family from joining the Community had he lived longer. She recalls waiting at a hospital at age five while Grampy underwent a leg amputation, only to be told he died on the table from a blood clot. When Minnow tried to touch his body, her mother smacked her hand away.

Minnow reflects on her longing to see the real sky. She recalls being heavily medicated in a hospital after the incident with Philip when a detective informed her the Community had been destroyed in a fire, triggering a memory of the Prophet’s dying eyes. She broke down and sang “Ain’t We Got Fun” until she was sedated.

After she woke, a male nurse plugged in a rainbow-shaped night-light. The night before her trial, the light prevented her from seeing the stars and mountains, so she pulled it from the wall with her mouth and dropped it out the window. However, she found she no longer cared about the forest where she grew up.

Two weeks pass with no sign of Dr. Wilson. Minnow worries she needs his recommendation for her parole hearing in August. Angel tells her that getting parole is unrealistic and describes her own hearing as a sham, warning they will both end up at the adult prison in Billings.

In the cafeteria, the warden announces that the Bridge Program is accepting new applications, offering housing and college tuition for released inmates. The girls grow excited, especially a pregnant inmate who learns her dependent would be covered. But Angel sees the announcement as a cruel trick, and the warden confirms that only girls paroled before their 18th birthday are eligible—excluding Angel and likely Minnow.

The sight of a new, bruised inmate triggers memories of Jude. Minnow recalls how they wordlessly showed each other scars and bruises from their families. During their second winter together, she asked Jude to teach her to read; he refused, saying his father used the Bible for anger. She asked him to teach her to sing “Ain’t We Got Fun” instead, and when she asked about his mother, he deflected by starting the song. Afterward, Jude showed her how to form chords on his guitar, resting his hand on her ribs—her first touch from a boy, a damnable act in the Community. Minnow decides in the present that “[i]t was worth it” (231).

Minnow reflects that the space in her head once occupied by prayer is now filled with questions and decides to attend the inmate youth group meeting. Tracy explains there is no pastor—the girls lead sessions themselves—and Minnow questions how they can be sure they’re interpreting the Bible correctly.

Tracy asks her how she can be sure “anything is real” (236), causing Minnow to think of Jude and a scar on her hand that was her proof of him. She concedes that sometimes you simply choose to believe. The other girls share their faith stories: Taylor felt God’s presence during brain surgery; Wendy found faith in a simple statement from Tracy; Rashida believes out of pragmatic fear; and Tracy was struck by the beauty of Genesis. Minnow realizes the significance lies in the girls’ capacity to believe despite their circumstances and tells Tracy she finds her story beautiful.