- Back at home, Koly finds her new way of life exhausting. She is responsible for more chores than before, and Mrs. Mehta is always mean to her.
- Why? Mrs. Mehta is grieving, and she's mad that Koly's dowry didn't save Hari—now they just have another mouth to feed.
- After a couple of weeks, Mrs. Mehta takes Koly into town and asks if the government has anything for her son's widow.
- Koly doesn't get it. What does that mean? Mrs. Mehta tells her it's just a formality and not to worry about it, but Koly knows better.
- They're given a bunch of forms, but since Koly can't read, they mean nothing to her.
- Koly begins to quilt to pass the time. She embroiders Hari at their wedding and starts to work on different scenes of their time together.
- She can tell that Mrs. Mehta likes looking at the images, even if she also scolds Koly for wasting time quilting.
- Chandra loves Koly's quilting, and loves to watch Koly work. The two of them become bosom buddies, spending loads of time together and confiding in one another.
- Koly thinks Chandra is a little spoilt, and Mrs. Mehta never gets mad at Chandra the way she does at Koly, but they are still friends. Chandra means well.
- One day Koly wanders into Hari's old room and finds his bug collection all dead and dried up.
- She notices his book is still in there, though, and wishes she could read it, so she asks Mr. Mehta to teach her.
- He's reluctant and doesn't want Mrs. Mehta to find out, but he promises to teach her each morning while Mrs. Mehta is out the house.
- Koly can hardly contain her excitement. She even tells Chandra how lucky she feels.
- Even though Chandra is happy for Koly, she's not interested in reading. After all, her parents are looking for a husband for her, so she doesn't need to know how to read.
- Koly starts working with Mr. Mehta on reading, and pretty soon she's taking the book everywhere she can to practice.
- Mrs. Mehta finds out that Koly has been learning to read and scolds them for it, but Koly doesn't care since, um, she can finally read.
- Sometimes Mr. Mehta comes home from teaching school frustrated. When Koly asks him about it, he explains that his students mock him and prank him all the time, putting scorpions in his desk and hiding his glasses so he can't see. Mr. Mehta wishes all of his students were as eager to learn as Koly.
- Mr. Mehta reads one of Hari's favorite poems aloud and Koly misses him.
- After a while, Koly begins to pray for Krishna to let her escape from the Mehtas. Sure, Chandra is nice to her and she gets help from Mr. Mehta every now and again, but Mrs. Mehta hates her. Nothing Koly ever does is good enough for Mrs. Mehta.
- Though there are some fun times, like when Mrs. Mehta takes them to a festival or Mr. Mehta lets them out to dance in the rain, most of the time Koly is stuck working herself to the bone.
- Koly remembers learning that Krishna was naughty as a child, so she decides to become naughty, too. Her best work? Putting a frog in the drinking water, and pulling out all the plants instead of the weeds. You show 'em, Koly.
- She's careful never to spill any salt, though, since her mom told her that if she does she'll have to clean it all up in the next life. No thank you.
- Chandra warns Koly to be careful—Mrs. Mehta won't put up with that behavior for long—but Koly doesn't care. That woman's already so mean to her, this is just Koly's way of taking a little revenge. At this point she's been living with the Mehtas for two years (which, fun fact, means Koly is now fifteen).
- Then one night, Chandra tells Koly that her parents have found her a husband.