Before dawn, the Antidote climbs out of the root cellar, leaving Harp, Cleo, and Dell asleep with the new mother cat and her kittens. She finds Harp's house destroyed, Cleo's camera shattered, and the wheat ruined, yet they are all alive, the photographs and negatives are safe, and her earhorn glows emerald green. The scarecrow, miraculously, has survived the storm intact on its posts.

Acting on instinct, the Antidote tips her earhorn to the sky, then presses it to the scarecrow's chest like a stethoscope. A roaring fills her ear, and she suddenly experiences the entire life of her long-lost son, surrendered at fifteen. She witnesses his death in a car accident on Black Sunday in Rushville, then his life in reverse and forward: childhood with his brother Auggie, his adoptive mother who named him Benjamin, his nickname Squeakie, his Sicilian features inherited from his father Giancarlo and herself. His spirit moves through her, both passing on and remaining with her.

The Antidote understands that her son waited in the scarecrow for her to find him, carried by the wind. She accepts that a soul may not be indivisible and welcomes him home, ending their long separation. When she lowers the earhorn, the scarecrow is once again an empty husk.

Dell climbs out of the cellar with her basketball and reacts with shock to the destroyed house. The Antidote promises they will practice basketball again when the ground dries. Dell hugs her fiercely, and the Antidote reflects that loving Dell is not a betrayal of her son. The chapter closes with a memorial portrait: Baby Rossi, son of Antonina and Giancarlo, born June 9, 1908 in Milford, Nebraska, died April 14, 1935 in Rushville.