Holly, now in her mid-70s, cares for her 15-year-old granddaughter Lorelei, her adoptive grandson Rafiq, and her dog Zimbra, in her Great-Aunt Eilísh’s cottage in Sheep’s Head, Ireland. Aoife and Örvar had died five years earlier during a massive storm that destroyed their plane. Though Holly’s cancer remains in remission, she fears it may return amidst growing environmental and social instability, which has resulted in widespread flooding, the loss of Internet connectivity, the possibility of nuclear meltdown, and greatly limited travel.

One night, Holly suddenly hears the thought, “He is on his way” (549). Putting her grandchildren to bed, she remembers narrowly escaping the Second Mission and returning to the Horologists’ safehouse after touching the golden apple. She is alerted by Zimbra’s barking to check the hen house and finds several chickens dead. Zimbra kills the fox responsible, which wakes up Rafiq, so Holly sends him back to bed.

Holly disposes of the dead hens and the fox. Later that morning, she and Lorelei commemorate the anniversary of Aoife and Örvar’s deaths. Holly grieves for the destruction of the world during her lifetime, represented by a devastating event that severely cut global access to electricity, known as the Endarkenment.

Holly, Lorelei, and Rafiq chat with their neighbor Mo, a retired physicist, before going to school.