Unsheltered

Thatcher participates with his school’s principal in a public forum moderated by Landis, debating the matter of Darwin’s evolutionary theories. The principal attempts to use literal Biblical interpretation to explain scientific theories such as genetics and the geographic distribution of various plant and animal species. Thatcher attempts to present science in a clear, non-threatening way, but his principal and Landis turn the audience against him. Thatcher is left with only three allies: Polly, Mary, and Carruth.

Rose, fearing that Thatcher’s performance will be an embarrassing spectacle that will reflect badly on her, invites some new friends on a day trip out of town during the debate to keep them from attending.

Willa and Iano go hiking in the Pine Barrens, where Willa has made frequent trips after continuing her research on Mary and learning of her work there. As they drive home, they observe the effects of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the area in 2012. The storm forced many businesses and farms to close after it damaged property and infrastructure. Iano tells Willa that he has been offered another year’s contract at the university and that his boss thinks Iano will be able to work there for the foreseeable future. Willa ponders the idea of the family settling more permanently in New Jersey. Thatcher is a person of historical prominence, and so she has begun to apply for assistance in preserving her house—since he used to live there, there are grants that she could receive to help pay for repairs.

Nick is dying, but in one last burst of consciousness, he asks to go to the cemetery and pick out a grave site for himself. While she and Tig take him there, Willa gets into a fight with Nick in spite of her best intentions.

A bystander interrupts a faculty meeting at Thatcher’s school to tell the teachers that Landis has just shot somebody on the street outside. Thatcher goes to investigate, arriving too late to see who the shooting victim is. He runs into Mary’s maid, who tells him that Landis shot Carruth in the back of the head after Carruth published an unflattering piece that implicated Landis’s wife, although no one was named in the piece.

Thatcher’s family discusses the news amid their crumbling house—several rooms have had the ceilings fall in, including the dining room. In the aftermath of the shooting, only Landis’s paper has printed an account of the shooting, and rumors are flying about Carruth’s condition. It seems, however, that he is still alive. Landis was briefly jailed and got out on bail, and the specific charges that will be brought against him depend on whether Carruth lives or dies.

Thatcher tracks down Carruth’s house and finds his friend alive but in an unresponsive coma. Mrs. Carruth tells him that the bullet is still in Carruth’s head, and Thatcher believes it’s putting pressure on his brain. He offers to get a doctor to take the bullet out, but Mrs. Carruth says that the town’s doctors are all in league with Landis and refuse to see her husband.