The Grace Year

The girls from the previous grace year have burned all of their supplies, leaving the new girls with nothing, just as their predecessors did to them. The rest of the encampment is filthy and left in shambles. They find a well, the only source of water in the encampment, and Tierney notices that “something about it [looks] unnatural” (97). The girls discover a tree that is full of severed fingers, toes, ears, and braids: The encampment has its own punishment tree where the girls discipline themselves and one another. Panic breaks out, and the girls start fighting over their own supplies. Tierney tries to urge the girls to trust each other and work together, but Kiersten quickly takes over as the commander of the group. Kiersten throws Tierney’s supplies over the fence, but Tierney remembers Gertrude’s warning and tries to ignore Kiersten’s provocations.

The girls find the larder with all of the food they will need to get them through the next year, and Helen finds a dove with a broken wing, which she keeps as a pet. Tierney teaches the girls how to collect wood and build a fire. During dinner, the girls begin drinking from the well, and the water has a “pungent, earthy aftertaste” (104).