SPOILERS!!!
In Rita’s memories we discover that when Harry threw her down the stairs and kicked her, she spent several days at the hospital. Harry acted as the best husband, and when she returned home, he apologised, saying that she had acted wrong. For a while she thought things could be better even though he still checked the phone calls or the receipts. Then she found the phone number of a woman called Tricia, and she confronted him, feeling that she shouldn’t slave away for him to be with a lover. Harry’s monster appeared, calling her nasty names and storming out of the house. When she was left alone, she took her revenge on the model ships that he treasured, and when he returned, he beat her up and got her committed to a mental asylumn.
In present time Bram talks to Rita about the jewels he found in the boxroom. This time RIta decides to act bold. After reading some quotations from the book about Saint Catherine that Blossom gave her, she realises that she has been silent for too long, and it is time to speak up. When Bram tells her about the jewels, she doesn’t act meek, but quite the opposite. Then she tells her about her confrontation with Ryan and Beryl Glacken, and how she suspects that the Glackens stole the jewels from Maud, and then planted them in her boxroom.
Bram goes to talk to the Glackens, who don’t take his words nicely, and then Beryl’s father come forward and assaults Bram, leaving him with a broken clavicle. Then Bram goes to talk to Rita, and finds her and Ryan in the boxroom. Rita had caught the boy throwing pebbles at her window, and now she is forcing the boy to pick up the potpourri from the boxroom while the boy cries. Bram panics because of what this could mean, and when he tells Rita to let the boy go, she gets upset and then she collapses. Rita is in bed for three days due to her migraines, and when she wakes up, Bram tells her that he and Blossom have been taking care of her. When she remembers him taking the side of Ryan, she gets upset and tells him to go away. Bram tells her that the Glackens are dangerous, but Rita doesn’t believe him. So she goes for a walk, and finding the football and the pebbles, she decides to take and hide them in order to give the boy a lesson.
Bram is troubled after what happened with Rita, and he is afraid that if Rita goes against the Glackens, something terrible will happen. Bram thinks this could be some punishment for what happened to Vivian. Then he decides to talk to Father Moriarty, and he tells him his secret. Bram says that Vivian was pregnant, and that is why her family had sent her away. The reason he knew about it is that he found what was left of the baby in the boxroom, and he buried it in the garden, putting a cherub as a mark. He says that the smell of the human remains still linger in the place, and he feels that since the grave hasn’t been blessed, he can’t feel at ease. Bram doesn’t want Rita to know, so he tells the priest that he can go there when Rita is gone, because he wants to convince her to go away to Portaluce for a few days.
The other character, Ronnie, is now having problems. In her walk along the promenade she runs into an old lady, Edith, who invites her to tea in her home. The woman has a dressed skeleton, and she explains that this is a Mexican tradition, and she admits to seeing the dead. Actually, Edith tells her that she can see Ronnie’s mother, and all she wants is for her to be happy. Ronnie confesses that when her mother died, she was left alone with an abuser, allegedly her mother’s boyfriend. Edith tries to comfort her, saying that she is safe. Ronnie gets scared and goes, and before going to the guesthouse, she buys a bottle of whisky. In her room she starts having visions or memories, about a day on the beach, and a girl lying next to her mother. Then a man, Jack, appears, disapproving of the girl’s presence. When the woman goes into the sea, the girl is left alone with Jack, and he starts shaking her and illtreating her. Then a nun appears and defends the little girl, berating the man for his treatment.
Ronnie wakes up to the knocks of the servant telling her that breakfast is served. Ronnie sees the bottle of whisky empty, which means she has drunk everything. When she climbs down the stairs, she is met by Gladys, and suddenly, Ronnie collapses. When she comes round, she is in a strange room, and then she realises that the door is locked. Then a nun appears and tells her that this is a kind of hospital for addicts, and it seems that on seeing the empty bottle of whisky, Gladys thought that she was an alcoholic and called the sisters. Ronnie is now trapped here and doesn’t know when she will be allowed to leave.
I have to say that now Rita’s behaviour is a bit over the top, and she is behaving foolishly. She distrusts everybody, even the mechanic, who I think is harmless. I can’t blame her because of what she has experienced in life, but I think it is time she could trust someone. And I am not sure what is wrong with Ronnie. Who is she? And are Ronnie and Rita somehow linked? I thought they could be sisters, but I am not sure.
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