The Storm We Made: A Novel

A week after Brother Luke’s death, Freddie brings a hungover Abel to a new theater the boys have constructed from materials intended for the now-abandoned railway project. He shows Abel that Master Akiro has been gagged and bound backstage and offers to let Abel take revenge against him. Abel hesitates to commit another act of violence, so Freddie and the other boys taunt him. Freddie then offers to kill him together. Before Abel begins, Freddie tells him that he knows what Master Akiro did to him in the chicken coop and says that he needs Abel “to show [the other boys he is] strong” (196). He gives Abel a stick. As the boys chant, he beats Master Akiro and abruptly leaves, drawing the other boys in to kill the camp supervisor.

The friendship between Cecily and Lina grows, allowing Cecily to realize the similarities and differences between them. Lina expresses that her misfortunes in her first marriage were preordained, a necessary evil that led to her marriage with Fujiwara. She reads Cecily’s palm and sees that “a big betrayal. Or a disruption. A lack of peace” (202) will happen in her life. When Cecily looks bothered by the prediction, Lina laughs at the reading and shows Cecily her own short lifeline, forecasting early death.