Working in the cornfield under intense heat, Robert distracts himself by listening for the distant courthouse bell and imagining home. He endures the pain in his scarred back and raw hands, reminds himself not to cry because Boone punishes weakness, and notices that Redbone is keeping his distance and glaring at him. When Robert spots Cleo and the same older boys who attacked him before, he fears another beating and tries to move away, while Redbone briefly draws Cleo’s attention off him with a taunt before backing down to avoid punishment.

Robert is then startled when Blue grabs his ankle from the corn and reveals that he has secretly come out to the fields. Robert is frightened for both of them because Blue could be caught and sent to the Funhouse, but Blue refuses to leave immediately. Their exchange turns tense when Robert mentions Blue’s dead parents, yet Blue insists he came only because the warning is urgent.

Blue tells Robert never to be alone with Haddock. He explains that the strap and the Funhouse are not the worst danger at the reformatory, because Haddock does his worst acts at night after the teachers are gone and the dorm masters obey him. Blue warns that Robert’s place in the band may protect him in some ways but will also make Haddock watch him more closely, and he implies that he himself has been one of Haddock’s victims.

Boone suddenly calls out to Robert, and Blue disappears before he can be seen. To protect Blue, Robert quickly claims he was only singing softly while he worked, and Boone is satisfied when Robert shows that he has filled his sack properly. Then Boone shifts the conversation in a more unsettling direction by asking whether Robert has seen anyone who does not belong there, hinting that Robert might be able to see what others cannot.

Boone shows Robert a small leather pouch of gray powder and says he uses it to get rid of haints. He describes ghosts as jealous, dangerous beings that tempt boys to run and die, and he offers Robert better treatment if Robert helps him find them. Hoping to please Boone and perhaps avoid future abuse, Robert tells him about the white ghost boy he saw in the kitchen.

Boone is thrilled by the report and explains that if a ghost has been seen within three days, his powder can trap it, reduce it to ash, and provide the warden with another specimen for a jar. Boone promises that helping him could get Robert and Redbone returned to the kitchen early. The chapter ends with Robert horrified by a deeper truth about the reformatory: Haddock is not only brutal to the living, and Boone hunts the dead for him.