At the Powells’ house, Gloria spends the day waiting for news about Robbie and growing angrier at Miss Anne’s delays and secrecy. Her fear for her brother, resentment toward the Powells’ limited promises, and memories of how white employers fail Black families push her toward a decision: she will quit, return to Miz Lottie’s house, and stop depending on Miss Anne. Just as Gloria reaches that point, Miss Anne quietly takes her away and reveals that a law student named Channing is waiting to meet them at Misery Swamp.

The drive stirs Gloria’s memories of riding with her father, Robert Stephens Sr., and of the history he taught her to read in Gracetown’s roads and landmarks. At the swamp, Gloria meets Mister Paul and then realizes the person fishing in the water is not a white man but Channing Holt, a tall young white woman. Channing speaks bluntly: Loehmann thinks Robbie’s sentence is too harsh, but he has little power; Judge Morris, Sheriff Posey, and the town’s white power structure are determined to punish the Stephens family; and Robbie could be kept at the Reformatory for years or even killed there.

Channing also confirms what Gloria has long needed to hear: Robert Stephens Sr. did not rape Lorraine. Channing says Lorraine lied because she was terrified of the man who actually beat her and because many white people wanted Gloria’s father driven out or lynched. Channing warns that the authorities may now be using Robbie’s imprisonment to lure Robert Stephens Sr. back to Gracetown, where he would be in grave danger. She says Miss Anne would help pay for a lawyer, but no nearby white lawyer wants the case, and Channing herself cannot act as a lawyer yet; Gloria answers that she will try to find a Black lawyer. Channing then offers Gloria a place to hide at secret cabins she and Miss Anne own near Eatonville, but Gloria refuses to leave while Robbie is trapped.

When Gloria presses Channing to speak publicly and help clear her father’s name, Channing insists that her knowledge would be treated as hearsay and admits only that she will keep trying to persuade Lorraine. Gloria leaves convinced that Channing, like Miss Anne, is too afraid to tell the truth where it might matter. On the drive back, Miss Anne offers practical help, including a lawyer fund, but Gloria rejects being made to wait on white people’s timing and asks for full control of the money in cash. She also confronts Miss Anne for praising her father only in private and never before other white people, concluding that Miss Anne’s private sympathy is not the kind of bravery Robbie needs. Miss Anne, shaken, agrees to withdraw two hundred fifty dollars in small bills for Gloria the next day.

As they drive through Lower Spruce, Gloria notices neighbors watching Miss Anne’s car and feels both gratitude and rage. Miss Anne urges Gloria to go back to school once Robbie is free, but Gloria is fixed on saving her brother first. When they near Miz Lottie’s house, Gloria immediately senses something is wrong: the front door stands open and relatives are waiting outside. Waymon and Uncle June stop her and reveal that her father has called from Chicago, sending Gloria running inside before she can hear more.