The God of the Woods

Maryanne continues to aid the search over the next few days, and the number of participants increases each day. She tells Carl one evening that she fears the Van Laars may believe him to be responsible for Bear’s disappearance. Carl tells her of Bear’s fear of his grandfather; Maryanne worries that no one would consider Peter II to be a possible cause of Bear’s disappearance. The next day, the three other volunteer firefighters warn Carl that he will be arrested soon.

As she prepares to give birth, Alice vows to love the baby as she loved Bear. She recalls his infancy—Peter insisted on a day nurse and a night nurse, the latter of whom Alice disliked because the woman took poor care of Bear. Alice relished the time between the nurses’ shifts, when she could care for and play with Bear herself. One night, she distinctly heard Bear cry out for “Mama.” She went to him, but Peter reprimanded her. Bear continued to call for her each night, but Peter would not allow Alice to care for him.

Now, Alice is in labor with Barbara and is heavily drugged. She has a vision that Bear is in the room and insists to Peter that he is alive. Peter is adamant that they must believe otherwise. He wants to name the new baby “Barbara.” Once home, Alice looks up the meaning of the name and is shocked to find that it has many negative connotations and is derived from the word “barbarian.”

At first, it is a comfort for Alice to have an infant in the house again, but when Barbara is three months old, Alice is certain that she can hear the baby calling “Mama” in the middle of the night, just as Bear once did, although this is impossible. Peter insists that Alice be seen by the family doctor, who prescribes a sleeping pill. Alice is certain that somehow, Bear is calling out to her; she believes that to admit that Bear is dead is a betrayal, and she refuses to do so. She is certain that Bear visited her when she was giving birth to Barbara and wills him to visit again.

Alice is placed in a mental health facility called “The Dunwitty Institute.” There, she is not allowed television or books. She wills Bear to continue to visit her, but instead, Alice suffers nightmares. One day, Delphine visits her, but Alice refuses to speak to her. Instead, she focuses on the sound of Bear calling out to her in her head.

Judy wants to act on the information she has learned about John Paul but knows that, as a junior investigator, she needs approval from a superior. Instead, she interviews the rest of the people inside the Van Laar home. When she comes to John Paul’s sister, she attempts to learn about John Paul’s whereabouts. When the sister does not know, Judy calls in a “be on the lookout” (also known as a BOLO) for a blue Trans Am—the car the young guest reported John Paul to be driving. Then, a ranger brings Tracy to her, indicating that Tracy has important information.

Tracy tells Judy of the person in the woods who helped her, then explains that she was on her way to the observer’s cabin in search of Barbara. She answers all of Judy’s questions, though she does not know who Barbara’s boyfriend is. When asked how Barbara got along with her parents, Tracy explains that Barbara was upset that her mother had painted her bedroom pink.

Officer Hayes returns with Captain LaRochelle as Judy debates whether to enter Barbara’s room. She informs Hayes about what she has learned from Tracy and the anonymous guest. She confesses to issuing a “BOLO” for John Paul, and Hayes praises her.

LaRochelle briefs all of the officers and instructs them on how to proceed. One is assigned to travel to the school Barbara attends, in hopes of identifying her boyfriend. Some speculate that the person Tracy encountered in the woods might be Jacob Sluiter, but LaRochelle is certain that Sluiter would not have helped Tracy.

It is 6 pm, and Judy and Hayes are driving away from Self-Reliance when the police radio announces that John Paul’s vehicle has been pulled over. The two investigators head there immediately to find that the police officer has been given a black eye by John Paul, who is drunk. Because he is under the influence, Hayes has cause to search his car. He finds marijuana and cocaine as well as a paper bag containing a camp uniform, which appears to be bloody. Hayes asks John Paul outright if he killed Barbara, and John Paul incites his right to remain silent. He is taken into custody and calls his father.

Louise remains in a holding cell until an officer enters near midnight. He asks how she knows John Paul, and when Louise replies that she is his fiancée, the officer says this does not match what John Paul has said. Louise knows the officer looks down on her and believes her to be uneducated and less refined than the Van Laars and their friends. The officer tells her of John Paul’s assertion that Louise is involved in Barbara’s disappearance.

The narrative shifts back in time, describing the moment when Alice prepares the house for the Blackfly Goodbye party. Although she lost interest in maintaining her appearance after returning from Dunwitty, she has recently tried to take an interest once again, having her hair cut and styled and buying new clothing.

When her parents arrive early and her mother immediately begins to criticize her, Alice retreats to her bedroom under the guise of changing her clothing. Instead, she takes four of the pills that Dr. Lewis prescribed, though he deemed a maximum of two for very bad days. When she wakens hours later, she takes more. After some time, she stumbles downstairs to find several guests arrived and socializing on the lawn. Wordlessly, Alice returns upstairs and falls asleep in the bed that was once Bear’s.

The officer—Detective Lowry—tells Louise about the bag of bloody clothing found in John Paul’s car. John Paul, he says, told him that Louise asked John Paul to get rid of the bag. Louise insists that she knows nothing of Barbara’s whereabouts and asks what right the police have to hold her. The detective insists that charges for possessing a controlled substance are pending but that police might be willing to work with her if she has information on Barbara’s whereabouts. Lowry leaves, and Louise wonders whether John Paul is capable of harming Barbara.

The narrative shifts into the past. In this timeline, Louise goes to visit John Paul, who is still in college. The weather is bad, and when she arrives, a party is underway. She finds John Paul drunk and dancing with several young girls. Louise sneaks off to his bed and falls asleep while the party ensues.

Later, she wakes to John Paul, who, still drunk, accuses her of having sex with someone else at the party. He demands to know who Louise snuck off with despite her insistence that she merely went to bed. As John Paul finally passes out, Louise whispers that she hopes he dies. John Paul hears her and pounces on her, attacking her with kicks and punches. She flees the house and drives away. John Paul chases after her, then slips and falls on the ice. As she drives, Louise knows she does not have enough gas to return to the ski lodge where she lives and works; her purse remains at John Paul’s home. She decides to sneak into Camp Emerson and builds a fire in the Balsam cabin.

Louise is awakened by TJ, who takes her to her own home. Louise is surprised to discover that TJ lives at the camp year-round and that TJ’s elderly father, Victor, lives with her, too. TJ shows her a photo from the 1961 Blackfly Goodbye party, pointing out a 10-year-old John Paul. It is via the photo that Louise realizes that John Paul was close friends with Bear Van Laar, who disappeared that summer. Over the next week, Louise stays with TJ as her injuries heal. One night, the two women stay up later than usual, laughing and drinking whiskey. Louise is certain that there is a sexual attraction between them, but when she places her hand on the small of TJ’s back, TJ sternly reminds her that she is Louise’s employer.

Though Louise feels an attraction to TJ, she does not speak of it. She returns to her job at the ski lodge, and roughly two weeks later, she receives a letter of apology from John Paul. Then he arrives in person. In tears, he tells her that he has begun attending Alcoholics Anonymous classes. He promises to change and tells Louise that she can bring her brother Jesse to live with them when they marry. He leaves a large quantity of groceries for Louise.

Louise packs up the groceries and drives them to her mother’s house, excited to prepare the shrimp and steak for nine-year-old Jesse. She finds him smoking marijuana when she arrives and demands that he quit. She tells him of her plan to marry John Paul and to allow Jesse to live with them.