On the sleeper train, Ted explains that Ali originally suggested they steal bicycles to sell for art-supply money, and that Joar had prior experience doing so as a child. The artist objected, saying stolen materials would taint the paintings, so the group dropped the idea and spent a rainy day together, surprising Joar with birthday gifts: Ted’s father’s unopened aftershave and a small bouquet the artist “adopted.” Joar, bruised from abuse, was moved and slept with the bottle in his arms.

The next morning, Joar failed to meet them at the crossroads. Ali checked his home and saw his parents leaving for work, noting his mother’s unusually happy demeanor, but Joar was not there. The friends waited in the grass, passing time with jokes and banter, until Joar finally appeared from the opposite direction, proud and energized, and urged them to follow him.

Joar led them to an art-supply shop without explaining his plan. He took the artist inside while Ted and Ali waited uneasily outside. The artist, realizing Joar’s intent, tried to stop him out of fear of theft, but Joar insisted he list what he needed so the summer painting could be completed. When Joar and the artist emerged with supplies, Ali and Ted panicked and ran in different directions, expecting pursuit.

A flashback reveals why Joar had not met them earlier: At dawn, Joar’s mother secretly woke him, took him to a basement storage unit, and gave him her only valuable possession converted into a gift—she had sold her cherished ice skates to buy him his first bicycle of his own. Exhilarated, Joar rode it through town and then, to protect it from theft, carried it into a sporting goods store and negotiated a sale.

Back at the art shop, when Ted and Ali realized no one was chasing them, they returned to find the artist holding a receipt. Joar grinned and asked, “What do you think I am? A THIEF or something?” He had sold his own new bike to pay for the canvases and paints that would enable the artist’s work.

The scene returns to the train, where Louisa softly praises the story’s “good ending.” Ted agrees. They settle into silence in their bunks, exchanging goodnights—Louisa to the “ghosts,” and Ted in reply—as their journeys diverge, his toward home and hers farther away than ever before.