- Suddenly we get different characters. Sturgeon will keep doing this to us. Stay on your toes!
- We meet Alicia Kew and her father, Mr. Kew. They have a really weird relationship, and that's an understatement. He's been telling her since she was four that he's the best father in the world, and he's not joking. Uh, that's a little creepy. He started that when her mother died while giving birth to their little sister, Evelyn.
- Mr. Kew explains to nineteen-year-old Alicia that he reduced her exposure to evil, and that they will join forces to keep Evelyn from knowing any evil whatsoever.
- He's got a weird idea of evil. He told her when she was a teenager that if a man was alone with her, he would go mad and touch her, giving her a skin disease. He also taught her when she was a child to avoid seeing herself naked and disciplined her when she thought about her body during puberty. Plus other creepy stuff.
- We learn that they live out in the middle of nowhere, concealed within a prison-like fence, and the children aren't allowed to leave. So they're all alone with their controlling father. Fun times. Not!
- But hey, the property has got a lot of beautiful nature, including a brook and pond. Mr. Kew says it belongs to Evelyn, and Alicia can guard her out there.
- Evelyn is out alone by her pond at age fifteen. Alicia is with their father doing something special for her birthday in the library. Probably something twisted. Evelyn doesn't ever go in there. She's been taught to listen and obey, not to read or seek.
- So Evelyn's just chilling out in nature. We get lyrical descriptions of how beautiful this spring season is. Dig this serious lyrical poetry stuff. Evelyn does. It causes her to unbutton her collar and feel she wants to share the beauty everywhere, even to the point where she starts weeping.