Chapter Forty Nine through Chapter Fifty Three Summary

In Chapter Forty-Nine, Shell rides her bike to the coast, thinking of Bridie and Declan, and goes to the cave where the dead baby was found. Inside she finds a bouquet of berries, tied with a ribbon. When she thinks back, she realizes there were many signs of Bridie's pregnancy. She imagines Bridie came home over Christmas, having given birth, only to find her family gone. Unable to deal with the crying baby, she went up to the cave and left him there, believing someone would find him. Shell finds herself angry at Bridie, and her mother, as well as at Declan and everyone else in her life. She remembers Father Rose, however, saying the with hate comes love. As she rides by the Quinn home, she notices the bushes outside...