The Night Gardener

A few days later, Molly, Kip, and the Windsor children are playing Catch as Catch Can—a game of hide-and-seek in which Molly pretends to be a giant who is hunting little children. Suddenly, they see Mr. Windsor and Constance having an argument. Mr. Windsor has been selling the family’s possessions to pay off his creditors. At Mr. Windsor’s insistence, Constance takes off her ring—a white band with a blue jewel—and throws it at him before storming inside.

When it’s Penny’s turn to cover her eyes and let the others hide while she pretends to be the giant, Molly sneaks inside and finds Constance coming out of the locked room with an identical ring on her finger. She claims that her husband got her the ring long ago and sends Molly back outside to play. Molly is distracted for the rest of the afternoon, and when she covers her eyes to be the giant, all she can see is “a ring, shining on a pale finger” (113).

Kip spends his afternoons waiting to see if the postman will bring a letter from his parents. One day, Hester Kettle stops by to collect her story, a bit surprised that Kip and Molly are still alive.