The Winter People

January 23, 1908

On January 17th, Gertie was buried in the backyard. Ever since, Sara has stayed in bed. She longs to end her life. She refuses food. Amelia comes to visit and tells her that Gertie contacted her through the spiritualists in Montpelier. Gertie told Amelia she was fine. Sara doesn’t believe her.

Later, Sara has a dream that Martin is hunting a deer. The deer turns into Auntie and sits on the edge of her bed. Auntie tells her she came from the bedroom closet and reminds Sara of the instructions Auntie left her for how to reanimate a dead person.

Sara goes to Gertie’s bedroom, Sara’s own childhood bedroom, and gets out the envelope. The instructions say that the “sleeper” will be alive for seven days.

Two days later, a scratching noise wakes Martin up. He sees Sara sitting on the floor in front of the closet. He sees the doorknob of the closet move and he warns her to get away from it. Sara tells him that Gertie has returned.

In the present day, Ruthie, Buzz, and Fawn drive to Woodhaven, Connecticut. They are going to try and find Thomas O’Rourke, whose wallet they found in Ruthie’s mother’s bedroom. However, no one at the address from his driver’s license knows of them.

Online, Buzz finds a William and Candace O’Rourke who live in town, and they decide to ask at their homes. On the way, they pass the Fitzgerald’s Bakery that Ruthie has been having recurring dreams about. Ruthie is stunned that it actually exists. Ruthie wonders if the strange woman she has been dreaming about is as real as the bakery.

Artist Katherine is convinced that the book Visitors from the Other Side that she found in her late husband’s tackle box is somehow connected to his death. She was shocked to realize as she read it that the ring her husband had given her was Auntie’s bone ring. Katherine goes to the bookstore to try and learn more about Sara. At the store, Katherine is looking at the poetry section when she thinks she hears Gary’s voice behind her, but there is no one there.

Katherine asks the bookseller about Sara. He tells her that Sara has no surviving family. He tells her that it is rumored that the final pages of the journal—the ones that explain how to revive dead people—are missing. He tells her that Sara was murdered and skinned. Martin was blamed, but before he died by suicide, he told his brother Lucius that Gertie had done it. After Sara died, many strange things happened. The Bemis’s cattle were found with their throats cut and Lucius doused himself with kerosene and lit himself on fire. People say they saw Sara leaving Lucius’s house that day. Katherine buys a copy of Then and Now: West Hall, Vermont, in Pictures and thanks the bookseller.

On her way home, Katherine runs into Lou Lou, who tells Katherine that she remembered that the woman Gary had met with was “the egg lady” who sold eggs at the farmers’ market every Saturday.

Ruthie goes to William O’Rourke’s house. He isn’t home, so she leaves him a note with Buzz’s cell phone number. Then, they drive to Candace O’Rourke’s house. Candance opens the door and seems to be expecting Ruthie. Candance shows Ruthie inside. Ruthie notices that, while a nice home, it seems to be neglected. Candace tells her that her ex, Randall, has full custody of her son, Luke.

Candace tells Ruthie that Thomas O’Rourke was Candace’s brother. Tom and his wife, Bridget, disappeared 16 years ago along with their daughter. Candace shows Ruthie a picture of the three of them. Ruthie recognizes Bridget as the woman from her recurring dreams. Bridget is wearing the bracelet Ruthie found under her mother’s rug. Ruthie panics and runs away.

When they get back home, Ruthie goes through the family photo albums. She realizes that there are no baby pictures of her. The oldest photograph of her shows her around the age of three holding a green teddy bear whose name, she remembers, was Piney Boy. Ruthie reflects on her earliest memory: Her father finding her somewhere and carrying her home. She thinks her parents were liars.

Later, Candace O’Rourke calls Ruthie. Ruthie is surprised that Candace has the number because it is unlisted. Candace asks if “Alice” is still missing. Ruthie is shocked Candace knows her mother’s name because she hadn’t mentioned it. Candace seems excited at the prospect that Alice is still gone. She tells Ruthie that she had often thought that her “precious girl” Hannah wasn’t gone and that she was still out there. Ruthie feels dizzy thinking about the connections between things and hangs up the phone.