Where Butterflies Wander

Twenty-two years later, Marie Egide arrives at a house in the woods in New Hampshire with two of her children, Penelope and Hannah. Her husband, Leo, and son, Brendon, are on their way. Marie’s fourth child and Penelope’s twin, Phoebe (Bee), died six weeks ago. The large house is part of Marie’s family’s estate, which she has inherited following her grandfather’s death. Approaching the house, Marie starts to remember experiences that she had there as a child. Penelope wanders off to chase a butterfly, and Hannah helps Marie carry things into the house. Inside the house, Marie remembers how it used to smell like bacon and tobacco and how her grandfather used to quote Roald Dahl. Hannah has a migraine, and Marie tells her to lie down. Marie is exhausted by grief and is often lost in her own thoughts. She plans to fix up the house and sell it by the end of the summer so that the family can start fresh somewhere new.

Penelope chases after the butterfly, determined to see what kind it is and hoping it is a rare white admiral. She believes that the butterfly is the reincarnation of her sister, waiting for her and the family to arrive at the new property.

Hannah had hoped that the fresh New Hampshire air would have cured or at least reduced the migraines she gets almost every day. Nothing any doctor has suggested has worked, and Hannah spends much of her time in the dark waiting for the severe pain to pass. She doesn’t see herself as the sort of person for whom miracles happen, instead viewing herself more as a “damsel in distress” without a prince (18).

Leo and Brendon arrive at the house in Leo’s electric car, which Marie teases him about because it needs to be charged so often. Leo wants to be patient and take his time with life, particularly since Bee died. He worries about all his children, but especially Brendon, who doesn’t want to talk about his grief. Brendon has become somewhat closed off to his family but remains deeply connected to their dog, Banjo. Leo notices how the house has a clear Georgian style, with columns and an iron chandelier inside. Brendon finds the idea of living in the middle of nowhere awful and is shocked to hear that the house has no internet connection. When Marie suggests that he go play with his sister outside and explore the world, Leo asks where Penelope is. When he hears that she went into the woods chasing a butterfly, he bolts out the door after her, afraid that something horrible will happen to her. He blames himself for not being there to save Bee from drowning.

Penelope is approaching the river and can hear its powerful noise. She grows excited and keeps following the butterfly, thinking about her sister and how they were alike and yet somehow opposites. Penelope goes along a path until she spots an old house. Surprised, she approaches until she sees an elderly woman chopping up a rabbit. The woman turns around, and Penelope sees that she has no lips and a badly scarred face. She runs, reminded of terrifying fairy tales of witches or monsters waiting in the woods. Leo finds Penelope on her way back, much to her relief. She tells him that she saw a monster living in a house shaped like a triangle.

Brendon isn’t sure what Penelope saw in the woods because he knows she has a strong imagination, but her description of a woman with half a face scares him and makes him check over his shoulder on the way back to the house. Although he never talks about it, Brendon constantly thinks about the day Bee died because he feels responsible. He was watching the twins swim in the pool that day but was playing on his phone instead of supervising. Penelope went inside, and Bee stayed outside and asked to use Brendon’s phone. When he declined, she went back into the pool, and her pool floatie got punctured and deflated. By the time Brendon noticed, she had already drowned. The next morning, Leo came into Brendon’s room to check on him and told him it was “bad luck.” Leo is still unaware that Brendon was with Bee when she drowned.

As she butchers the rabbit, Davina thinks about the girl and guesses that she was about eight years old. Davina feels bad that she scared the girl and wonders whether she should at least leave the family a note, explaining that she lives nearby. Davina got the rabbit that she’s butchering from a trap set by a hunter. Davina believes that traps are inhumane, so she takes the trapped animals and leaves cryptic notes purporting to be from a witch who promises karmic justice to the trapper. She also rubs the notes with poison ivy, one of many tricks she learned from her second mother, Rosalinda. She has since developed a reputation as a “witch” of the woods.

Hannah still has a migraine but wants to go with Leo, Penelope, and Brendon to town to use the internet. They hope to find out what kind of mushroom Penelope found in the woods, and Hannah wants to send out emails. Hannah is a teenager but poses online as a young adult graduate student so that she can write for the Juliet Club, a group that responds to letters written to the tomb of Juliet in Verona, Italy. Hannah answers all sorts of letters of longing and grief, both of which she understands well. Hannah also worries about the rest of her family, especially Brendon, who has shut down emotionally since Bee’s death. She is skeptical about the idea that moving to a new place will solve the family’s grief, being aware of the fact that the family’s “baggage” will be with them wherever they go.

Davina writes a short letter on a piece of scrap paper, explaining that she frightened the young girl and that her face was burned while serving in the Afghan war. She approaches the family’s house, hoping to leave the note at the door and slip away unnoticed, but the whole family is outside. Davina watches them as everyone but the mother gets in the car and drives away. When Davina looks at Marie, she senses that something important is coming.

Marie is at the house alone while everyone else is in town. Memories continue to flood her mind of the whimsical and easygoing childhood days that she spent at the house with her cousin and grandfather. Marie also remembers the days after Bee’s death and how Leo had made her promise that they would get through it together for the sake of their children. Marie still isn’t sure she can do that but tells herself every day that she must. The day after Bee’s death, Marie decided to sell her grandfather’s property so that the family could move away from where Bee died, affording a home in the nearby community of Farmington. Leo’s nickname for Marie is “Jags,” like “jaguar,” because they met when she crashed into his Jaguar while trying to catch a frisbee in college.

Hannah and Penelope are home by themselves. Hannah enjoys having the house to herself. She bakes blueberry muffins, intending to share half of one with Banjo, and enjoys discovering all her grandfather’s old cooking appliances. Outside the window, Hannah spots a tall boy working near the barn. She becomes distracted and ends up eating the whole muffin. She takes her laptop outside. Hannah checks her emails, but the heat brings on a migraine. Suddenly, she notices a piece of string tied to the table, leading into the woods. She follows it and finds a note with a bag of items inside. The note explains that the tincture, tea, and mustard powder there should help with migraines, adding that sitting with her feet in hot water and her head iced should also help. It concludes with an apology for scaring Penelope and is signed Davina, “known in these parts as the river witch” (48). Hannah is excited by the mysterious nature of the discovery and decides to try the remedies. Hannah is surprised to find that combining all the river witch’s advice helps her migraine. When Penelope asks Hannah to play with her, Hannah suggests going for a walk in the woods, but Penelope looks scared. The doorbell rings.

Penelope and Hannah open the door to find the same tall boy standing there. He stares at Hannah’s blue eyes, and she blushes; Penelope can tell they are attracted to each other. The boy introduces himself as Rock and jokes that he’s equally “dumb, dense, and immovable” (50). Rock explains that he is there to paint the house and often comes around to help maintain it. Penelope finds Rock funny and interesting, but when he mentions that Davina delivered him as a baby, Penelope thinks back to the frightening moment when she saw Davina. She asks Rock if Davina stays by the river, and Rock explains that Davina is much more of an explorer and is rarely at home. This also scares Penelope.

Marie talks to a realtor and finds out that the house is worth more than the family will need to buy the house she hoped. She comes home happier than she has been in weeks, until she finds Davina’s gift to Hannah in the girls’ room. She reads the note and becomes angry and terrified. She rushes downstairs to show Leo. Leo smells the tincture and thinks it smells innocent enough, but Marie panics and looks for Hannah. Just as she is about to leave, Hannah comes in.

Marie loses her temper at Hannah, incredulous at the fact that she consumed Davina’s gift without consulting anyone first. Marie insists that Davina will have to be evicted, but Hannah, who has just been to meet Davina, says that she is kind and was given the cabin by Marie’s grandfather. Maria says that the medicine did help her migraine. Marie instructs Leo to tell Davina that she must leave the area within a month. Leo believes that Davina has a right to live there. Marie adds that she wants Davina to stay away from the children. Leo is horrified but agrees.