Dru meets Corinne as she appears from the forest, just barely escaping the douens who pursued her in Chapter 16. Corinne apologizes to her friend for not believing in jumbies, and the two discuss the type of creature Severine may be. Corinne claims Severine is not a douen, but a different kind of jumbie. Dru suggests she is a La Diabless, a female type of jumbie who appears as a beautiful woman who has one cow hoof instead of a human foot. La Diabless jumbies lure men into the woods to kill them.

The girls run to the marketplace to implore the white witch for her help. When they reach her, the witch is annoyed by the request and tells Corinne that she must learn to stop looking for dangerous things. Corinne tells her that she did not go looking for Severine; Severine sought out her and her father. At this, the witch grows more serious: It is too late, the white witch’s magic cannot help them.

Dru pays the witch for her time with one of Corinne’s oranges, and the girls run to the beach. Corinne wants to check on Pierre, who should be out fishing; in her haste, the cut on her leg rips open and begins to bleed.