Summary

In Chapter 5, Alex woke to a deer “crashing through the trees” (103). After collecting herself, she started “walking along the shoulder of the highway” (103). Then she heard someone calling her name. A car slowed and a man got out. He was Simon’s friend George’s “house manager” (104). He reintroduced himself as Nicholas. Because he was worried, Alex pretended she had gone for a swim and someone had stolen her bike. He offered her a ride. When she said she had gotten “too much sun,” he insisted on taking her to George’s for food and water (106).

Nicholas made Alex food in the kitchen. He was there ahead of George to prepare the house. Alex pretended Simon was in the city for a few days. Talking to Nicholas, Alex noted how “he almost made you believe everything he said” (109). She kept prodding him, wanting...