The novel toggles again to a first-person perspective. The motherless Violet Cross reveals that she lives in Blackbird House with Huley, her younger sister, and Arthur, her father. Arthur is a fishman who works with George West, a boy who is a year younger than Violet. Violet belabors the fact that Huley is the beautiful sister, while Violet has a blotchy birthmark in the shape of a flower on her face. However, she emphasizes that she’s the greedy sister, always wanting more, as is evident in Violet’s voracious reading habits, which continue into adulthood.

Harry Wynn, a man in town, claims to have seen a serpent emerge from the ocean, leaving a four-foot-wide track and the smell of sulfur. When panic ensues, a zoologist from Harvard visits to investigate. One day at low tide, Violet is collecting quahogs (clams) when the professor, Ewan Perkins, arrives. When he notes that the creature is likely seeking freshwater, Violet volunteers to escort him to all the ponds in town; she keeps her head low so that her hat brim covers her birthmark because she feels an instant attraction to the man.

During the week that follows, Violet abandons her chores and reading to take Ewan to each pond, telling him about the plant and animal species that inhabit the area.