Abilene wonders why Manifest matters to her father. The more she thinks about it, she can’t remember if he actually said he was coming back at the end of the summer or if she imagined it out of wishful thinking. She studies the lure as she remembers that only one person showed up to the potluck the night before after Shady’s church service. Downstairs, she notices that Shady hasn’t shaved and his eyes are bloodshot. She offers to help with whatever he needs, hoping he’ll keep her busy enough to make it impossible for her to do chores for Miss Sadie.

Unfortunately, Shady says Sadie will be expecting her. He gives her a skipping rope, hoping it will make her smile. When she tells him about her meeting with Miss Sadie, Shady says he knew Ned and Jinx. Abilene realizes that Miss Sadie told her more about Manifest than her father ever has. Lettie and Ruthanne arrive to talk about the Rattler, and they think Hattie Mae might be a suspect.

Abilene thinks of the October 11 News Auxiliary and gives it to the girls. The text of the column thanks Hattie Mae’s aunt Mavis for sending a thesaurus, which will help with her job as a writer.