Fourteen boys bury Redbone on Boot Hill, digging his grave by hand beside an unmarked field of other dead boys. Robert pours his anger into the work, is sickened when Redbone’s casket jolts open as it is lowered, and feels how little dignity the Reformatory gives its dead. During the brief service, other boys remember Redbone’s kindness, and Robert finally manages to say that Redbone was his best friend.

Crutcher hands Robert his trumpet, and after struggling to make a sound through his grief, Robert plays for Redbone. His strongest note becomes a final honor that the burial itself lacks, but covering the casket with dirt only sharpens Robert’s horror that Redbone’s family is absent and his grave will go unmarked. Robert holds himself together by focusing on his plan to expose the school and escape.

After the burial, Blue appears and follows Robert back toward the cafeteria. When Robert demands to know where Redbone is, Blue explains that not every dead person remains as a haint; some move on, and Redbone may only return through dreams. Blue also bluntly tells Robert that Henry Jackson came as planned and that Robert failed to trap him, which deepens Robert’s guilt over Redbone’s death.

Robert then presses Blue for details of the escape. Blue tells Robert to catch Henry Jackson the next morning to put Haddock and Boone in a good mood, then use the key Robert found hidden in the trumpet to break into Haddock’s office window while Blue creates a distraction. Robert insists Blue must not hurt anyone, and Blue agrees to set the fire only when no one is nearby. Blue also tells Robert to carry the haint jar and the photographs in a satchel and reveals that Uncle June has already cut the hole in the fence near the Funhouse.

That night Robert dreams that Redbone sits at the foot of his bed reading a comic book. In the dream, Redbone tells Robert that he is about to expose the Reformatory, warns him that he will need Blue once the dogs come after him, and insists that Blue is not to blame for what happened. Robert wakes understanding that Redbone has visited him through a dream, promises to trust Blue, and goes back to sleep believing he will be gone by the next night.