Chapter 21

Natalie is placed on house arrest, her ankles bound with knotted towels that let her shuffle painfully around the kitchen. Under Mary’s commands, she makes repeated trips to fetch tools and tend the fire, aggravating her bandaged leg. Natalie recalls Caleb’s threat to tie her outside overnight if she tries to flee again.

As Mary churns cream into butter, she asks why Natalie keeps running. Exhausted and unguarded, Natalie blurts that she is not supposed to be here. Mary presses for clarity, but Natalie can only say that “here” should be different, which Mary rejects as fanciful.

Mary warns her not to enter the woods, citing wolves, “Indians,” and malevolent souls. Frustrated, Natalie snaps, “You are not my family.” Mary falls silent and sends Natalie for firewood, reasserting control while cooling the confrontation.

That evening, Mary maintains her distance but offers Natalie bread slathered with the freshly churned butter. The gesture functions as a fragile truce amid ongoing control and confinement. Natalie accepts; the butter is delicious, underscoring the chapter’s mix of coercion, estrangement, and small, human reconciliations.