She also tells her that the baby's name is Imogene. She tells the woman that a hired girl had the baby and then died during childbirth. Ruth is half dead and frozen on the ice with the baby, but she is revived.Īmanda takes the baby to a woman in town who has recently had a stillborn child. Amanda tries desperately to pull her out, but can't do it without falling in, so Mathilda bites her sister's finger to force her to let go and leave her to drown in the freezing water. Mathilda pushes Ruth to the surface to save her, but falls back in herself. Ruth and Mathilda go under, while Amanda desperately tries to save them. Out on the ice, they walk over a thin patch and the ice starts to break. Ruth, who is roughly four at the time, follows Amanda out onto the ice. Sometime in the night, Amanda changes her mind about Mathilda raising the baby and tries to leave the island by walking across the ice with the child. Mathilda delivers Amanda's baby girl in the house while Ruth is under the bed. Mathilda agrees to adopt the child as her own and make up a story about the baby being an orphan from a "hired girl." While Amanda is pleased with this arrangement, she has to hide her pregnancy, so she cannot leave the island until after the baby is born. Hesitant at first, Mathilda soon agrees, and the three of them go to the island.ĭuring the summer, it becomes apparent that Amanda is pregnant and desperate to hide the pregnancy. After living in the farm house for a while, Amanda persuades Mathilda to move back to the island. The three grow close, and Amanda begins to see Ruth as their child, becoming very protective of her. Amanda is persuaded to take a rest from her nursing job, and travels back to the family farm to stay with her sister and niece. She's also frequently ill and has become a nervous wreck. Mathilda is devastated and angry at his departure and decides to move back to the mainland and into the old house of her late parents.Īmanda begins to feel agitated and upset.
A short time later, however, Carl begins to feel trapped, enlists in the army and is sent away to France. They are happy there, and welcome their child, Ruth, into the world. Meanwhile, Mathilda and Carl are married and living together on a small island near the family farm.
When Mathilda marries Carl, Amanda feels betrayed and leaves to go to nursing school. While Mathilda is petite, well-liked, pretty, and adventurous, Amanda is tall, clumsy, awkward, and serious.
( May 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īmanda and Mathilda are two sisters who live in rural Wisconsin.
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