49 pages • 1-hour read
Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire
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Part 1, Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.
Part 1: “The Girl”
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “A Girl Pets a Cow”
Verity and Jack fly out to the Millers’ dairy farm. On the way, Verity muses on how her relationships with the residents have changed and how they might change in the future. Finally, she lands outside the Miller house, where she meets the matriarch, Mae Miller.
Verity immediately respects Mae for her steely manner. She is skeptical of Verity and her alleged desire to help the town. However, she does admit that Verity might help her by healing one of her cows, who hasn’t given milk in some time. Verity charms the cow, and it gives milk again. Verity tries not to feel disappointed when Mae doesn’t thank her.
From the barn, Mae leads Verity out to the field where her other cows are. None of them has been able to produce milk, either. On the way, Verity tries asking about Mae’s husband, Matthew Miller, but Mae shuts down her inquiries. She then bursts out in anger when she sees a bull meowing in the pasture, blaming Verity for cursing her herd. Then the bull changes back into Jack. Verity and Mae burst out laughing.
The tension broken, Verity sets to healing the herd. Mae is overwhelmed with gratitude when Verity finishes, but she worries about how she will sell the dairy products from the milk, as the bridge out of the valley is still closed and Earl still controls the valley and mountain beyond. The women sit together, and Mae lets Verity explain herself. Verity admits why she is there and explains her interest in Tacita’s disappearance.
Mae launches into a lengthy story. She explains that her son, Del, has had a crush on Tacita for a long time. Theresa has been enthusiastic about the match because she believes the Millers are well-to-do and that a marriage between Tacita and Del could help her circumstances, as her husband and son are dead. Mae admits that she likes Tacita well enough but has always doubted her interest in Del.
During one of Tacita’s visits a few weeks ago, Mae watched the young girl wander off into the forest and toward the mountain with a look of wanderlust in her eyes. Tacita has not been seen since, and Mae guesses she is dead or under Earl’s sway. Despite Mae’s warning not to go in search of Tacita, Verity leaves the farm and immediately heads in the direction of the mountain.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “A Chimney Is Cleaned”
On her way into the woods, Verity tells herself she is just going to examine the woods and mountain and won’t be long. The closer she gets, the stranger the landscape becomes. When she sees eyes blinking in the dark and hears her name, Verity remembers the Foxfire residents’ warnings about the place. They all said not to look into the trees and not to respond to the wind calling your name.
Finally, Verity arrives at a dilapidated house. She tells herself she’ll spend the night here. Suddenly, “a girl [falls] out of the chimney” (103). Verity soon discovers that the girl is Tacita. Tacita is relieved that someone has come to find her, but she is confused as to how Verity can see her and terrified that Earl will find them. She is even more surprised to learn that Verity is a witch, but she refuses to return to Foxfire. A patient Verity agrees to wait a while until they’ve come up with a solution.
Tacita tells Verity about all the strange, fabled creatures she has seen in the woods. She explains that she ran away from home because she has always wanted to leave Foxfire. However, she made the mistake of telling Earl that it was her deepest wish to go somewhere she’d never be found; he locked her in the chimney in exchange for her heart.
Verity listens intently, asking questions. Tacita goes on to explain that because her dad and brother are gone, her mother has been desperate for her to marry Del. She doesn’t want to return home because she has no interest in marrying him. Verity promises to help Tacita however she can.
Suddenly, Earl’s voice emerges out of the darkness. Verity insists that she and Tacita leave immediately. However, when they try flying back to Foxfire on Verity’s broom, they repeatedly hit a force field. To overcome the charm, Verity temporarily transforms Tacita into a goose. Earl chases after them, shrieking, but they make it back to town safely. Theresa is thrilled to see Tacita, but Verity notices how despondent Tacita looks. She tells herself and Jack that she did the right thing, but she still isn’t sure. Over the following days, rumors spread about Tacita’s return and Verity’s magic.
Part 1, Chapters 4-5 Analysis
These two chapters of Part 1 use Tacita Tarry’s story to fuel the novel’s theme of Self-Exploration amid a Small-Town Community. Verity is horrified when she first learns that Tacita has been missing for weeks and no one in Foxfire has mentioned her or gone in search of her. She does not understand how a community could be so disinterested in the well-being of one of their young residents. Because Verity is new in town, she is still learning the rules of this insular community. Foxfire is a representation of Appalachian culture, and its representation in the novel captures how secluded communities function without contact with the outside world. Verity is learning that Foxfire residents see outsiders as untrustworthy, but her changing approach to Navigating Community Hurt, Need, and Healing is leading to new, if fragile, connections. It has taken her concerted time and effort, but she is beginning to notice that “the tide of belonging and friendship” is changing in her favor.
Tacita is an outlier in the Foxfire community; unlike her neighbors, she disparages her town and is desperate for a life beyond it. Foxfire residents respond with judgment of Tacita’s perception of Foxfire as the ultimate trap. She runs away from home because she “wanted a way out, maybe see if I could make it to a city somewhere. Start over. Get lost among all those people” (113). Tacita wants the freedom to explore the world and herself on her own terms. She feels trapped in Foxfire because her mother is trying to determine her future for her, and her desire to break out offers another perspective on self-exploration amid a small-town community. While marrying Del Miller would improve her family’s circumstances, Tacita has no interest in this life. “Don’t know how much you know about the place,” Tacita says to Verity of her relationship with the town, “but it’s not the easiest town to grow up in. Not much here. No way out” (113). Tacita feels stuck in Foxfire because there is no physical way to exit the town, but also because the community is so small that everyone is involved in everyone else’s business. The townspeople’s lives are so entangled that Tacita feels no agency over her own life and has no liberty to seek and determine her character for herself. She is living under others’ expectations and judgments. The narrative conveys just how desperate Tacita is to escape this cloistered community when Tacita admits that she gave up her heart in exchange for a way out, a metaphor that explores what she might lose by leaving her community.
Verity is also exploring her identity in the context of the Foxfire community, and her growth and character arc are centered on her changing relationship with the town and how it reflects her sense of self. Verity is still young, and for her, this arc is a coming-of-age journey. She believes that her worth is tied up in her magical powers, which she sees as all she has to offer. When she visits Mae Miller, therefore, she feels desperate to prove herself to this respectable woman. Verity can’t help but feel disappointed at Mae’s lack of response to her original cow enchantment. Mae doesn’t “say thank you,” “weep with joy,” or “so much as pat Verity on the back” (82). Verity has indeed come to Foxfire—and to the Millers’ dairy farm—in an attempt to help, but she is also shaping her identity as a witch while she is there. She is developing her skills and learning how to use her powers to make strong, trustworthy relationships with others. She feels genuinely proud of herself for healing the cow—a feat she was unsure she could accomplish—but her self-pride is deflated by Mae’s seeming disinterest in her accomplishment. This scene underscores Verity’s youthful inexperience, highlighting just how far she has to go to understand and appreciate who she is. Much like Tacita, she longs for affirmation, connection, and belonging. In the context of Foxfire’s small-town culture, Verity is learning what it means to establish her reputation while maintaining an independent sense of self.
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