The Stillwater Girls

Nicolette Gideon (the narrator of Chapter 2 and all even-numbered chapters) shares her concerns about the state of her marriage. Standing in the fully appointed chef’s kitchen in her upscale home in Upstate New York, she tries to get her husband, Brant, excited about the progress they are making toward becoming licensed foster care parents. Brant, a photographer with an upcoming show at a respected museum in Manhattan, is more focused on preparing for this career milestone than on what Nic is saying. Nic knows that Brant has reservations about becoming foster parents, but fostering is important to Nic. Nearly a decade ago she had a medical emergency that required a hysterectomy, and she is desperate to satisfy her longing for children. Her memories of that time period are hazy, but she believes the trauma of losing her ability to bear children is what sparked the recurring dream she has of being out walking with a stroller and looking down to realize that the baby is missing. Nic tries to be understanding about Brant’s distraction, but she has been feeling increasingly neglected by him and worries that something has changed in their once ecstatically happy marriage. She’s felt particularly worried in the past few days, since discovering something disturbing in his sock drawer.

Wren is desperately worried about her and Sage’s situation, but she tries to maintain a calm facade for her sister’s sake. She’s terrified of starving or freezing to death, but she also fears the idea of venturing into the forest. Mama has always forbidden them to leave the homestead, stressing to them how dangerous the outside world is. As Wren readies herself for bed, she gets into an old-fashioned nightgown and brushes her teeth with one of the toothbrushes kept in an old canning jar. The toothbrush is a strangely bright color, reminding Wren of “the box of waxy colored sticks Mama got Evie for her fifth birthday” (11). When Sage expresses concern that Mama and Evie will never come back, Wren thinks about how sheltered from hard work and worry Sage has always been because her sweetly naive temperament makes people want to protect her. Sage wonders if Mama’s Supply Man might find them and help them, but Wren explains that Mama has made sure that even the Supply Man has no idea where the cabin actually is. As she lies in bed trying to fall asleep, Wren resolves that she will find a way to save herself and her sister.

At the opening of Brant’s show, Nic runs into Marin, a former colleague. Knowing how much Nic loved the city when she was younger, Marin expresses surprise that Nic and Brant are now living Upstate in Stillwater Hills, Brant’s hometown. Nic explains that Brant likes the seclusion. After Marin drifts away with a joke about going to ogle Brant, Nic thinks that Marin is not Brant’s type. She is, however, almost certain that Brant is cheating on her with someone, and she scrutinizes the women at the show for clues about who it might be. In between making his rounds to socialize with attendees, Brant returns to Nic. He tells her that she is more beautiful than any of his art and calls her his muse and his “everything” (21). Nic cannot stop thinking about what she found in his sock drawer: a photo of a little girl with Brant’s distinctive eye color. Sensing that she is out of sorts, Brant tells her that if she is not feeling well, they can leave, but Nic lies and says that she is fine. A short while later, however, she feels panicked and steps outside for some air. Brant finds her and hugs her; she tells him that she is going home.

In the morning, Sage sees that it has snowed and asks whether they can make snow candy. Wren does not know how to tell her that they are out of nearly everything, including both molasses and sugar. When she goes out to check on the chickens, she sees large boot prints in the snow. Knowing that these likely belong to a man, she hurries back inside for the shotgun, intending to track the prints and make sure the man is gone.

At the grocery store, Nic is embarrassed when a woman catches Nic staring at her and her child and protectively moves to shield her child from Nic’s gaze. Nic has always felt like an outsider in Stillwater Hills, and incidents like this make her feel like she will never be accepted. Still, she can understand the woman’s caution, because many years ago there were two child kidnappings in Stillwater Hills, and people are still wary. Nic thinks sadly about how Brant has been pulling away for the past year and wonders what he is up to. She cannot imagine that he plans to leave her, because most of their money is hers, from her family’s hotel empire. A split would mean a significant lifestyle change for Brant. Nic wonders how much of his photography income is going to support the child in the photograph.

On the next morning, Wren finds another hen has died. Sad, she takes the hen out under a tree to bury it. In the process, she accidentally leaves the shotgun in the henhouse. When she sits down with Sage a little later to play a game of checkers, they are startled by a noise outside. Someone knocks on the door, but they remain silent, terrified and weaponless.

Nic’s parents visit on the weekend before Christmas. They do this each year, since Nic usually leaves to spend the rest of the winter with her friend Cate in Florida right after Christmas. This year, however, Brant is not there for their visit, which is unusual. He claims to have a speaking engagement in Albany, but Nic is skeptical. When he has a private moment with Nic, her father asks if she is aware that there have been some odd withdrawals from her trust account recently. She pretends that she knows about it, resolving to log into her account later and find out what Brant has been up to. She fears that he has been siphoning money from her account to give to his mistress, the mother of the child in the picture.

Wren sleeps fitfully and wakes thinking about the man who knocked at the cabin door. She and Sage waited silently for two hours until they were sure he was gone, and then Wren ran out to retrieve the shotgun from the henhouse. Wren wishes that she still had drawing supplies left, because drawing calms her and helps pass the time on sleepless nights. She gets up to tend the fire that Sage forgot to tend before bed. Just as she returns to bed, three knocks sound at the door. The man begins pounding at the door and shouting that he knows someone is inside. Before Wren can get to the shotgun, the man kicks in the door and is inside their cabin.

Nicolette searches through Brant’s large walk-in closet, looking for evidence of what he is hiding from her. She finds nothing that suggests an affair. She has already looked into the withdrawals from her trust; Brant has been moving money in increments of a few thousand dollars at a time into an account that he told her was closed. Brant returns home early from his morning run and catches her in his closet. She pretends to have been looking for a belt of hers, but when he quickly finds it in her closet, she knows it is unlikely that he believes her excuse. She goes downstairs to start breakfast. Seeing his phone on the charger, she sees a notification from a 212 area code. She tries and fails to get into the phone; for some reason, Brant has changed his passcode.

Huddled in bed with Sage, Wren observes the man trying to light their kerosene lamp. When she sees the scars on his face, she remembers Mama telling her that diseases are “rampant across our nation,” and she worries that the man will get them sick (47). The man asks several questions about them and their living situation, expressing surprise and skepticism. He frightens Wren by placing a handgun on the table and confuses her by asking whether they have electricity, which she has never heard of. When the sisters refuse to answer his questions, he grabs Sage and holds her captive, implying that he will harm her if Wren does not speak. She tells him their names and that their mother and sister have gone to town but is confused when he asks about Maggie Sharp. She does not know if this is Mama’s name, as she has never heard her mother referred to as anything other than Mama. He asks what their father calls their mother, and she tells him that their father died when she was very little. She thinks about the graves that her mother says are out back, under the willow tree: one for her father and one for their older sister, Imogen, who died before Wren was born. The man pushes their mother’s bed against the door so that they cannot escape and lies down in it, telling Wren and Sage to go to sleep. Wren lies down with Sage, but she vows to stay awake all night, keeping watch.

Nic and Brant spend Saturday morning browsing in a bookstore. Nic recalls how they used to spend Saturdays in bed together. She tells Nic that she is not going to spend the winter months in Florida with Cate this year. He is surprised and expresses concern, but she assures him she will be fine and that her seasonal depression is under control. She is skeptical about his concern, believing that he is trying to get her out of the way for a few months. She thinks about how tender and attentive he was in the months after her hysterectomy. She tries again to reassure him, promising that if she shows signs of depression she will get on a plane to Florida. He kisses her hand, telling her that he loves her and just wants her to be happy.

In the morning, the man searches for food. Wren is nervous that he will try to kill one of the goats that Mama keeps for their milk. She offers to make him a meal from their scant remaining supply of potatoes and the only two eggs they have for the day. The man mocks them for being scared of him, saying that he does not intend to hurt them. Wren nudges Sage to eat her small portion of potatoes, thinking that they need to keep up their strength in case they have an opportunity to get away from the man. The man asks again about where their mother is and then questions Wren about what Mama looks like. Wren describes her as best she can, explaining that Mama looks more like her, not like Sage, with whom Mama does not “share a single feature” (63). The truth is that Mama does not look much like Wren, either. When he asks about whether their mother has a bump on the side of her nose, Wren’s heart skips a beat, and she lies, saying no.