The Overnight Guest

The little girl reflects on all the different promises her father has made her and how he has never fulfilled them. The most recent promise is that he will bring her a puppy. He arrives with a cardboard box, which excites her, but it only contains old, used books. The little girl is disappointed, and he slaps her for her ingratitude.

Wylie breaks one of the windows by the backdoor and reaches inside, unlocking the door. She grabs a knife from a drawer in the entryway and searches the house. She finds the woman in front of the fire in the living room, still holding her hatchet. Wylie tries to approach, but the woman warns her off with her hatchet; the little boy then tries to hit her with a fire poker, but Wylie grabs the weapon out of his hands. Wylie then disarms the woman as the boy rushes to protect her.

Wylie deduces that the woman is the boy’s mother. The woman shushes the boy; Wylie takes control of the situation and collects blankets for the woman, grabbing her gun from the bedroom and hiding it in her pocket. Wylie tries to get information out of the woman, but she is evasive.