Part 1 - Sacrifice, Chapters 7, 8 and 9 Summary

Chapter 7 - In spite of the sacrifice of the lawyer, Charlotte's condition worsens and Willard continues the animal sacrifices. At one point, a gentle dog that Arvin immediately names Jack comes to the door. Arvin feeds it, but then Willard comes home, shoots it, and nails it to one of the crosses he has built in the prayer clearing, deeply upsetting Arvin. A few nights later, Willard wakes Arvin who had been secretly wishing his mother would just die and sends him to the prayer clearing, with orders to keep praying until Willard comes for him. Arvin shouts his prayers for hours, aware that Jack's decaying body is above him, until Willard finally comes with news that Charlotte has died. A few days later, she is buried at a sparsely attended funeral. After taking Arvin...