Riddley Walker

Riddley is taken into a building by a guard. Inside, Goodparley is sitting with Belnot Phist. Goodparley seems to know everything Riddley has done since he ran away. Riddley hands over the mysterious yellow stones taken from the dead sailor and admits that he does not know their true power. Phist insists that he knows nothing about the stones but Goodparley accuses him of conspiring against the Ram. Phist is taken out of the room by a guard and Goodparley stays to talk with Riddley.

They discuss history, and Goodparley reveals that the Eusa folk made Eusa a prisoner, marching him around every town to publicly blame him for the war. Eventually, they cut off Eusa’s head. The decapitation was a premonition for what would happen to the area of southern England, which would be cut off from the rest of the country by rising water levels. Eusa’s head stayed alive and ordered his killers to throw the head into the sea. They did so and eventually it floated into the possession of the Ram, who were told by Eusa to make a show out of his head to help people remember what happened. Goodparley explains that this was how the Eusa shows came into being. He also uses the story to justify the brutal treatment of the Eusa folk.

Goodparley shares a document with Riddley. The 20th-century document describes a painting titled The Legend of Saint Eustace. The painting portrays several scenes from the life of the saint which are hugely misinterpreted by Goodparley as the story of Eusa. The document motivates Goodparley, who wants to resurrect the technology of the old world and reclaim everything that was lost in the war. He insists that he is not Riddley’s enemy and even claims that one of Brooder Walker’s connexions inspired his plan. After being inspired, Goodparley tasked the Ram’s rudimentary scientific research team with recreating the nuclear bomb. The yellow stones found with the dead sailor are made of sulfur, which Goodparley hopes will further their research.

Goodparley searches Riddley’s pockets and finds the puppet with the hunchback. The puppet has a strange effect on Goodparley, who explains that its name is Punch. He tells Riddley about how, as a child, he lost his parents to a raiding party. On the day after the attack, Goodparley wandered through his smoldering village and met an old man named Granser who introduced him to a puppet show which included Punch. Goodparley reenacts the show for Riddley. In the show, Punch carries a big stick and uses it to beat people until they are well. The show is filled with sexual innuendos, violence, and cannibalism. Punch murders the other characters until one comes back as a ghost and haunts him. The show ends and, even though he has never seen it before, Riddley feels as though he has always known about it. Goodparley reveals that he killed Granser on his 12th birthday after the old man arranged for Goodparley to be raped by seven other men. Riddley listens to the story and then discusses Goodparley’s plan to rejuvenate society. He is confused with Goodparley’s obtuse reasoning and becomes angry. Riddley runs away from Goodparley and tries to find Phist. He finds Phist in a room. Phist whispers an urgent message to Riddley and then dies. Goodparley arrives and shouts at the guards who allowed Phist to die. He tells Riddley that he is free to leave, but Riddley knows that they are now bound to one another by fate. Riddley takes his possessions, including the sulfur, and heads for Cambry.

Riddley thinks about the story of Eusa while he walks to Cambry. As he passes through a charcoal burning site, he meets an old man. The old man is Granser, who survived Goodparley’s attempt to murder him. Riddley tries to quiz Granser for more information but the old man’s memory has faded. Granser makes Riddley feel uneasy, so Riddley continues on his journey. He passes men working on a farm and arrives at the ruined remains of the old electricity grid, the Power Ring. Riddley feels the power in the ancient objects, and he shouts at them. As he continues toward Cambry, Riddley wonders whether he was right to ally with Lissener. He wonders whether he can save Lissener from persecution by helping Goodparley.

Arriving in Cambry, Riddley walks through the crumbling remains of the town as it stood in the 20th century. He feels the power of the place and notices the strange white shadows left on the walls; the burned outlines of people killed in the blast of a nuclear bomb. A mysterious, mystical force seems to pull Riddley toward the ruined cathedral. Riddley has a vision in the crypt beneath the cathedral as the dogs walk around him on their hind legs. Instead of Eusa, he envisions a powerful female force which he associated with fertility and stone. He invents a brand-new story which tells the secret lives of stones. Among the ruins, Riddley finds a face carved into the buildings and he names the face Greanvine. He also finds a crude drawing of Goodparley and adds to it with a piece of charcoal. When the other half of the dog pack appears, Riddley worries that Lissener is in trouble. He walks toward Fork Stoan.