Summary

On July 5, 9 p.m., Pip takes care of her mother, Clare, while she is ill. It is not mentioned what made Clare ill. After Clare is asleep, Pip can hear the sounds of the summer party in the two-acre private park behind their house, which is in London. She is scared when a man walks up to the door of their house but then realizes it is Leo.

An hour later, Pip’s older sister, Grace, is still not home. Pip gathers her courage and walks across their patio, still decorated with balloons, toward the park where several older children whom she recognizes are hanging out. None of them claim to have seen Grace. Dylan seems alarmed she is not at home.

As Pip walks toward the Howes’ apartment, she sees Max holding his football. He looks as if...