The Back of the Turtle

Back at Mara’s house, Gabriel surveys her painting of Elvin and Thelma. Mara tells him about the day of the disaster that killed them, describing how “the river ran bright green [and] every living thing in the river’s path [was] destroyed” (248).

As they get ready for sleep, Mara asks Gabriel to hold her. They get into bed and cuddle, and for the first time in a while Gabriel feels glad to be alive.

Dorian goes home and calls Olivia. She sounds detached and distracted, so he gives up and instead reads through the rest of the Joseph Quinn trial transcript, which ends with Church’s acquittal of all charges.

Gabriel wakes at Mara’s and makes them both breakfast while recalling memories of his family. He’s especially pained by the day he and his father moved to Minneapolis for Joe’s RCMP training. They left his mother and sister behind in Lethbridge, leaving Rose furious and Little heartbroken.

Sonny is awoken by a sound like “aluminum cans being crushed” and identifies it as the ghost people singing (266). He walks to the beach, wishing his father could tell him what to do next, but is soon struck by inspiration: He’ll build a tower to guide the sea turtles back to Samaritan Bay.