Part II The Road of Trials, Chapters 8-10 Summary

The next three chapters starting with 'The Oatley Tunnel' 'Jack in the Pitcher Plant' and ending with 'Elroy' are Jacks first introduction to serious threat and danger in the novel: his first challenge.

The challenge starts in Chapter 8 'The Oatley Tunnel' where Jack is almost run over and has to travel through a motorway tunnel embankment. Inside he imagines a creature with yellow yes stalking him, which panics the boy and forces him to race out of the other side. He gets a life from a well-meaning driver and tells him 'the story' of how his name is Lewis Farren and that he is attempting to make his way to a nearby town to see an unwell relative.

In Chapter 9, Jack gets into the small town of Oatley to...