CHAPTER 56

Summary

• The chapter narrates a frantic search for Elsie who has gone missing in 1951 in the setting of Parambil.
• The family and neighbors search the house and its surroundings, the stream, the canal, the blacksmith, goldsmith, and potter’s houses, and the dark roads and neighboring houses.
• They also search the riverbank, nearby wells, and even a sacred spot bordering their property, feared for its said occupation by the serpent God; yet, they find no trace of Elsie.
• Only Baby Mol appears unperturbed by Elsie's absence, an observation that chokes Big Ammachi emotionally.
• Georgie goes to check the family home and the mountain estate but fails to locate Elsie. She receives an unpleasant treatment from Elsie’s brother who is apparently inebriated.
• After a day of fruitless search, Shamuel finds Elsie’s neatly folded clothes and slippers along the riverbank, a chilling discovery that leads the family to inform the police and fear the worst.
• Big Ammachi visits the spot where Shamuel found Elsie’s clothes and imagines Elsie’s final moments in despair, suspecting her weakness post-illness to have led her to underestimate the river’s strength and give herself to it.
• Big Ammachi also discovers a drawing in Elsie’s nest and interprets it as a farewell message from Elsie, asking her to care for her infant in her absence.
• Big Ammachi hides the drawing, deeming it a private message, and stores it with the family's genealogy records. She pulls it out from time to time in memory of Elsie.
• The chapter concludes on a somber note with Big Ammachi accepting Elsie’s departure and the need for life to continue despite the loss.