The Silent Boy

Katy asks Peggy why she has to go to school but Jacob is allowed to roam free and be with animals. Katy tells Peggy that the stable boy sees a deaf-mute boy coming by the Thatchers’ barn to pet the horses, but her father says Jacob is not deaf. Peggy agrees that Jacob can hear, understand, and make sounds, although he cannot make words. Peggy explains that this is why he can’t go to school. Peggy then explains that Jacob doesn’t play all day; rather, he works and takes care of animals. Sometimes on the farm there are too many kittens born at once, and Jacob has to take some and drown them. Peggy says, “It’s what they do on farms, Katy. It’s the kindest thing when there are too many” (49). Katy is horrified by this news and tries to console herself by comparing it to when she steps on ants. Katy tries to reconcile her image of Jacob as a sweet and soft boy who is so good with her horses with the kind of person who drowns kittens.

Katy is in her mother’s room, looking through the Sears catalogue, and Peggy helps her sound out some of the words.