Hatch argues with his brothers over the best route up to Kirk’s Cirque, but concedes to Egan’s choice of the south side of Kaieneewa. Egan, Kelly, Hatch, and Billings unload their ATVs near Indian Hills and begin climbing. At a trail junction they encounter a law enforcement party of rangers and deputies. Deputy Sheriff Cannon, an old acquaintance of Egan’s, allows the Porches to join the search, even if it goes against protocol. Impatient, Hatch guns his ATV alone across the dangerous Seventh Scree, then glimpses an ambiguous figure, possibly his estranged mother or a burst of kestrels, and drives on. The combined group approaches the Eighth Scree by 4:13 p.m.

The narrative returns to Kirk’s Cirque at 1:41 p.m., where Kalin remains ill from food poisoning. For two hours, Landry tends the fire and supplies at a careful distance. Once he stabilizes, Kalin immerses himself in the ice-cold Altar Lake, which clears his mind. Returning to camp, he finds Landry has produced a forgotten slice of her mother’s orange cake from her coat pocket. They share it, and by 3:47 p.m. Kalin has recovered enough to plan.

A white mule mysteriously appears and joins their horses. At 4:26 p.m. Landry spots the Porch and law enforcement convoy surging across the Ninth Scree. With pursuers closing fast, Kalin explains the next part of Tom’s route: a series of narrow interconnected ledges up the sheer Upecksay Headwall that no horse has ever climbed. They saddle up immediately and begin the ascent, reaching the first rocky rest stop at 4:54 p.m.

Around 3 p.m., Allison attempts to hike toward the landslide but turns back when her hip and knee give out. A park ranger drives her to Bridge Six, where she sees the rockfall’s full immensity and briefly climbs its surface before accepting she cannot safely advance. Returning to the canyon entrance, the mothers confront Undersheriff Jewell, who shows them torn tarp, a ripped sleeping bag bearing Tom’s name, and Landry’s lacerated pink raincoat, all recovered from the debris. The evidence convinces Sondra that Landry is dead.

At Porch Meats, Detective Peters visits Old Porch to report that Trent Riddle has died in a drunk-driving crash. Old Porch is quietly relieved, having considered Riddle his gravest liability.

On the Upecksay Headwall, Kalin leads each horse up the cliff individually, then returns on foot to guide Landry through each switchback. At the narrowest, most exposed passage, Landry experiences a mental health crisis. Tom’s ghost appears and walks alongside her. They cross together, but at the final turn the rock crumbles underfoot. Tom’s ghost seizes her wrist, Pia Isan steadies Tom, and Landry hauls herself to solid ground before running to the summit ridge where the horses and the mule are waiting.

Below, Egan shoots Ranger Bren Kelson through the back of the head, then radios that the children fired on them. Kelson survives briefly before Billings Gale smothers him. Kelly carries the body down while Egan feigns anguish. Just as Landry reaches the summit, Hatch fires his rifle at Kalin on the headwall. It is 6:37 p.m.

Just after midnight Sunday, October 31, Allison follows Sondra’s speeding truck up Orvop Canyon, her car running out of gas near Deer Creek Reservoir. She finds Sondra by the river filling her pockets with heavy stones, preparing to die by suicide. Allison persuades her to pause by noting that Old Porch’s description of Kalin’s slight build was too specific for someone who had never seen him, suggesting Porch spotted Kalin alive from the helicopter. The detail reignites Sondra’s hope.

At the command tents, Hatch carries Kelson’s body inside while Kelly performs CPR and Egan enacts grief. Egan falsely claims Kalin shot both Kelson and Landry; Hatch, who watched Landry summit through his rifle scope, says nothing. Park Ranger Emily Brickey tentatively relays Kelson’s earlier radio sighting of horses on the headwall, but Egan’s hostility and Jewell’s skepticism silence her. Jewell announces that they will conduct a manhunt later that day.

At the Porch house, Egan openly admits to Old Porch that he fabricated Landry’s death. Old Porch praises him. Hatch confesses he saw Landry reach the summit, then retreats upstairs, prays, and vows to rescue her, recognizing that by abetting his siblings, he has effectively condemned Kalin to die on the wall. Billings hides a bloody ziplock bag in the kitchen trash, intending to use it against Kelly if necessary. Old Porch studies his survey maps and resolves to intercept the children on the back side of Katanogos by snowmobile at first light.

On the headwall, a second rifle shot misses Kalin. Kalin and Mouse execute the final turn, with Mouse choosing his own lead change to land cleanly; Kalin then returns for Navidad. The platform crumbles behind them, destroying the route. At the summit, they find Landry has already built a tarp shelter and a roaring fire, having burned her diary to start it. The two huddle against Navidad through the blizzard, surviving the night.

At dawn Kalin follows Tom’s ghost to the summit ridge, where Tom, briefly transfigured, delivers a prophecy about the valley’s moral future. He warns Kalin he will face an important choice involving a saddlebag before he reaches the Crossing. After sharing cached provisions, the group begin descending through snow-covered forest, accompanied by a growing procession of animals. A police plane circles the cirque; Kalin and Landry shelter the horses under a tarp until it leaves. Continuing their descent, Landry climbs an exposed outcropping to survey the path ahead. The sun glints off the lenses of her binoculars, betraying their position. A rifle shot rings out, and the air around Landry turns red.