The Life She Was Given

In the middle of the night, Lilly and Cole gather their suitcases, take Phoebe, and release Pepper from her cage. They have decided to run away to save Pepper, hopeful they can get picked up by another circus out West. As they escape the Barlow Brothers’ Circus, Viktor, who is eager to see Pepper punished for Merrick’s death, spots them. They freeze when they realize he has a gun.

Julia wakes up the next morning, reeling from what she saw in the attic. She resolves to learn the truth, but it will take too long to go through the entire house to figure it out. She must get Claude, who has been with the family long enough to know something, to confess. In the farm office, she begs him for answers, and he finally relents, his eyes softening with sadness and regret. He explains that the child in the attic had a skin condition; he claims only to know that she was locked away due to Mrs. Blackwood’s religious convictions, adding that Mr. Blackwood never liked to talk about it. Julia doesn’t believe him, but when she pushes him for more information about what happened, he tells her that he made it his business not to know.