In a mar­itime escape, the char­ac­ters leave behind an omi­nous past, jour­ney­ing away from dan­ger aboard the ship “Flower.” As they round the east­ern tip of the island, the ship’s immense shad­ow looms, illu­mi­nat­ed against a dark sky, hint­ing at its his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance. With the main­sail ren­dered use­less, they rely on the jib and the steady hand of Burke, reveal­ing that he is more com­pe­tent at sail­ing than expect­ed. The group’s ten­sion sim­mers, espe­cial­ly regard­ing their cap­tors Wer­ryck and oth­ers left behind, and the con­stant threat of recap­ture lingers in the air.

As the days stretch on, the gang nav­i­gates through rain, hunger, and fatigue, ulti­mate­ly eas­ing into the qui­et har­bor of Jolie, where life begins anew. They find solace at the Girards’ home, where Eve­lyn offers warmth and hos­pi­tal­i­ty. Though they strug­gle with the phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al toll of their escape, the bonds between them begin to form stronger roots in the safe haven.

Burke’s depar­ture after ten days leaves mixed feel­ings with­in the group, par­tic­u­lar­ly as Sol seems dis­en­gaged from him, hav­ing per­ceived his dark­er moments. Mean­while, the nar­ra­tor man­ages to secure work with a local weld­ing shop, solid­i­fy­ing their place in the new envi­ron­ment.

The nar­ra­tive then shifts to Sol’s par­al­lel jour­ney of adjust­ing to life out­side of cap­tiv­i­ty. Her ear­ly impres­sions of the ship demon­strate a com­plex emo­tion­al land­scape — a mix of com­fort and trep­i­da­tion sur­round­ing her iden­ti­ty and expe­ri­ences. She recalls the kind­ness of a woman who pro­vid­ed meals but was nev­er con­ver­sa­tion­al, instill­ing in Sol a fear of los­ing her name through the promise of bet­ter ones. This fear high­lights her strug­gle with iden­ti­ty and recog­ni­tion in an unfor­giv­ing real­i­ty.

As spring approach­es, Sol’s grow­ing affec­tion for gar­den­ing reflects her resilience and desire for nor­mal­cy as she plants seeds around the town. News trick­les in about their for­mer cap­tors through the excitable *Mos­qui­to*, reveal­ing a mirac­u­lous escape while shed­ding light on famil­iar yet dis­tant faces from their past.

The chap­ter cul­mi­nates with an intro­duc­tion to Har­ri­et, a fig­ure from the past who brings tid­ings about the ship and its occu­pants, includ­ing dis­con­cert­ing news of loss and resilience. Through their exchange, the nar­ra­tive explores themes of sur­vival, hope, and the bit­ter­sweet nature of return­ing to life after trau­ma, lead­ing to a con­tem­pla­tive view of the comet’s arrival, sym­bol­iz­ing unfore­seen futures.