Chapter 10: Altha

Contains spoilers

Grace appears young and small on the witness stand, evoking memories of their childhood friendship for the narrator.
The narrator recalls a vivid summer at age thirteen, spent with Grace exploring the village and countryside.
Grace, always fearless, loses her boot in a bog and later gives the narrator her own spare pair.
The friendship ended in the same summer when Grace's mother became seriously ill.
Grace rushed to the narrator's mother, reputed for her healing knowledge, in hopes of saving her sick mother.
The narrator's mother, sensing the urgency, takes healing remedies and sets out with the girls to aid Grace's mother.
In a heavy rain, they reach the Metcalfe farm to find Grace's father despondent and the doctor absent.
Despite his reservations, Grace's father allows the narrator's mother to treat his wife.
The treatments are initiated too late, and Grace's mother convulses and dies despite their efforts.
Grace is shielded from witnessing her mother's agonizing death by the narrator.
The narrator questions her mother about why they couldn't save Grace's mother on their return home.
In the aftermath, rumors spread through the village, likely blaming the mother and daughter for the death.
The narrator is kept away from Grace, who is forbidden by her father to see her friend.
Their communication ceases for seven years following the incident.

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