"In Place of the Truth" Summary

Ruby calms Ralph when he rebels against pulling a heavy sled of rails. Ada has noticed Ruby rarely works straight through a project; instead, she shifts among the most pressing priorities. Before bartering apples for cabbages and turnips, she cleans up a rusty old trap to stop corn from disappearing. Ada convinces her to pad the teeth to spare a human thief. Ruby leaves Ada one assignment: make a scarecrow. Ada has nicknamed the bold ringleader Notchwing, and has mixed feelings about keeping an account of the doings of particular birds. She cannot imagine seeing the effigy of her father every day in the garden, so she puts back Monroe's clothing and uses her mauve party dress. Ada knows Ruby will think of better uses for the material, but has other gowns to...