Cal waits at home for Mart Lavin, deliberately inviting him inside despite the unspoken weight of Brendan Reddy's death between them, because the Johnny Reddy situation requires their relationship to shift. Over tea, Mart explains Johnny's scheme: an English plastic Paddy named Rushborough believes there's gold on Ardnakelty land, and Johnny wants the locals to chip in three hundred quid each to salt the river so Rushborough will pay them for samples. Mart, refusing to invest his own money, finds the whole thing entertaining and is curious enough to go along.

Mart explains why local men are susceptible: they are stuck on inherited land, restless, and especially on edge from the drought, making Johnny's shiny promises alluring. He warns Cal that Trey vouched for the gold story by citing her teacher, giving the scheme credibility because Trey now has standing in the townland. Cal recognizes this as a delicate warning. Realizing his own land lies along the supposed gold vein, Cal asks Mart to vouch for him so he can attend the pub meeting where Rushborough will be inspected. Mart agrees, amused by the added drama, and Cal wonders why Mart wanted him involved at all.

Meanwhile, Trey is sent to Noreen's shop after Maeve dodges her turn by sucking up to Johnny. At the shop, Noreen, Mrs. Cunniffe, and Tom Pat Malone interrogate her about the gold, already speculating that Rushborough's grandmother was Bridie Feeney. The gold has shifted in their minds from possibility to certainty. They press Trey to put in good words with Johnny, asking her to recommend Tom Pat's grandson Brian and Noreen's son Jack for work helping Rushborough at the river. Tom Pat also asks her and Cal to build him a rocking chair.

Walking home up the mountain, Trey processes the strangeness: villagers who once disdained the Reddys now need things from her. She realizes that, for the first time, she has power. Although she knows Cal would disapprove of her involvement in Johnny's scheme, she sets that aside as irrelevant. Rather than rejecting this new position, she resolves to use it, though she doesn't yet know how.