Jumpin’ warns Kya that Social Services are asking about her father, schooling, and movements. Fearing foster care, Kya asks Tate to meet elsewhere. He explains “where the crawdads sing” and they choose an old, collapsing cabin deep in the marsh as a hideout, arranging signals and stashing supplies. Tate suggests school, but Kya refuses, convinced she’d be taken.

They continue summer lessons at the cabin, reading A Sand County Almanac. Kya absorbs ecology, harvests her garden, gathers firewood, and sometimes sleeps at the cabin to avoid detection. Tate ferries her smoked fish and mussels to Jumpin’ for supplies to keep her off the grid.

Tate introduces poetry; Kya experiments with playful verses and later finds Ma’s worn poetry book, lingering over underlined poems that feel like messages. When Tate’s senior year starts, he brings advanced textbooks. Shorter days push their lessons back near Kya’s shack; for the first time since Pa left, she invites someone—Tate—inside, and he admires her collections.

Kya reads Rebecca and daydreams about Tate. Mabel brings her a dress and a bra. Soon after, cramps strike at the beach; Tate recognizes her first menstruation and discreetly shadows her home. The next morning Mabel arrives with supplies and guidance, reassuring Kya she’s becoming a woman. When Tate returns with petite cakes, they resume lessons without discussing it.

As autumn turns the sycamores gold, Kya asks why Tate helps her. He speaks of love for the marsh; privately he wrestles with town cruelty toward Kya and his tangled feelings. They share family losses—his mother and sister died in a car wreck; Kya’s mother left. Amid swirling leaves, they play, collide, and Tate kisses Kya. After a shy pause, they agree she is his girlfriend, and they kiss again.