Part 2 Summary

This summer, the city is in flames. Every night, the flames light up the sky with colors of orange and pink and let out solid columns of smoke. Bim paces on the rooftop of the house, looking at this spectacle, and imagines she can hear shots and screams coming from the city, although this is highly unlikely.

That same summer, Raja is very ill and it is to him Bim reports what she saw on the rooftop. He becomes increasingly worried about Hyder Ali Sahib, the family's wealthy landlord and neighbor, because it appears his family's house has been abandoned. Raja pleads with Bim to go next door to the Misras' house to find out where they have gone, commenting on how they left without notifying him where they were going. Bim is afraid to upset her brother, since even the slightest upset...