Mathilda Gokey a.k.a. Mattie
Quote 19
"I went over early to see if Lou wanted to go fishing, and I knocked and knocked but no one came. The cows were bellowing, so I went in the barn. Daisy's real bad. She ain't been milked. Ain't none of them have. I didn't know what to do, Matt. I went inside the house ... They're all real bad. I found Lou in the grass by the outhouse, I got her inside, but—"
I didn't hear anything else for I was already running. Down the back steps to the Glenmore's drive and out to the Big Moose Road. (35.aby.15-16)
Even though Mattie feels that her future is slowly drawing her away from Eagle Bay and her family, when her family falls horribly ill, she goes immediately. It's in times of trouble that we realize how important family ties are.