Ellie goes into the house to find Samuel, but instead finds a black racer snake sleeping on the washroom floor. Ellie grabs the snake and takes it to her father’s room, telling herself “no more lullabies” (90); she hopes to use the snake to wake him up. Rather than having the snake bite him, however, she decides to toss the snake into the room and wait for Esther to find it. She hopes that when Esther screams, her father will awake.

Ellie is sent to look for Samuel and starts to make her way up the mountain. She has a strange feeling and decides to go up the brambled path toward where the old hag lives. On her way, she sees the wild dog, who slowly and cautiously leads her back to the hag’s encampment. Ellie finds a clearing, a fire pit, and an old shawl on a tree. She then spots the hag’s small cabin “tucked against the topmost ledges of the mountain” (95). The dog leads her toward its door, which is open.