Summary

Birdie realizes that much of her past life, including memories of her father and the language of Elemeno, are disappearing. Birdie grows closer to Walter and Libby Marsh, and she fantasizes sometimes about being the daughter they never had. One day, the Marshes start asking questions about Birdie’s grandparents, and she panics and makes up some information on the spot, but it doesn’t fit with what Walter Marsh remembers hearing from Sandy. Birdie hopes this won’t be their downfall.

Later, Birdie and Nicholas go riding and Nicholas asks whether Birdie is a virgin. She says she is, although she secretly remembers a game she and her friend Alexis used to play in which they would rub their bodies together, and recalls the “melting” sensations she felt. Nicholas says he’d had sex in Amsterdam with a black prostitute, and remembers that it was...