Chapter 4: Kate
Contains spoilers
Summary
- Kate is driving to Crows Beck, a location 200 miles from London and away from a man we infer is threatening to her.
- She arrives at her late great-aunt's cottage in a rural setting, inhaling fresh air that’s a stark contrast to the city’s smell.
- The cottage, named Weyward, is an inheritance from her great-aunt who recently passed away, leaving everything to Kate.
- Kate feels alert despite the long drive and a sense of fear, though the cottage and surrounding environment feel unfamiliar.
- She encounters disturbing local customs and sights, such as dead animals strung up on a fence.
- The inside of the cottage is quaint and filled with entomological sketches and artifacts, playing to her great-aunt's interests.
- Kate makes tea and eats biscuits, feeling the burden of fatigue, before collapsing into the bed where her great-aunt passed away.
- She wakes up confused and disturbed by past traumatic experiences with a man named Simon, including assaults and control over her life.
- Kate reflects on her secret escape plan and measures taken to keep her movement unknown to Simon, who monitored her phone.
- Despite precautions like hidden contraception and planning secretly, Kate realizes she is pregnant with Simon's child.
- Kate's attempts to light a fire in the cottage fail, resulting in thick smoke.
- Clearing the blocked fireplace, she encounters a dead crow which then springs back to life and startles her.
- Kate manages to get the crow out of the cottage and is left shaken but resolute in her new autonomous life.