The entire family is in shock to discover that Stacey has left. Moe Turner also went away without telling his family, and the two are assumed to be together. David returns home and calls Hammer to help him search for the boy. They believe he’s gone to work at one of the big cane plantations in Louisiana. Shortly after Stacey leaves, school starts for the fall, and Suzella remains to take classes with her cousins. Because her New York education was so advanced, she is allowed to skip to the 12th grade. The fruitless search for Stacey continues, and Mary loses patience, demanding her husband and brother-in-law keep going no matter what: “‘When are you going out again?’ [...] ‘Honey, you got any idea how many people grow cane?’ ‘You saying it matters how many?’ [...] I don’t care how many there are. I want Stacey back in this house’” (288).

As the weeks wear on, Cassie overhears one of her classmates speculating that Stacey is dead. Cassie attacks her and gets into trouble with the teachers until Suzella takes her aside to talk to her, saying, “What we love, we love very deeply. I understand why you jumped on Mary Lou” (297).