The Summer of the Swans

A confused Charlie awakes on the ravine floor. Though his memory occasionally fails him, the boy is well aware of his own lapses. Charlie recalls other moments in which he found himself in unknown places or situations—but can’t recall his wanting to see the swans. Suddenly, Charlie hears someone call his name. He calls out in return.

Sara hears Charlie’s cries coming from the ravine below, and is overjoyed—scooting down the steep bank toward him. As the siblings spot each other, it occurs to Sara that no one will ever look at her with the same happiness. Sara embraces Charlie in a hug, the younger holding on tight even as she tries to return his slipper. Sara checks on Charlie, and Joe identifies a bare pathway as their best route out. Charlie shows Sara his damaged watch; Sara offers him her own for the time being, and he gladly accepts.

When the Godfrey siblings and Joe emerge from the woods, they encounter friends and neighbors who surround them in celebration. As the community expresses their relief that Charlie was found, Sara notices the swans flying above them, returning to their permanent home at the university lake. Sara points them out to Charlie, but he gives no indication of recognition. Aunt Willie arrives on the scene, her and Charlie having their own tearful reunion. Aunt Willie calls this moment her “blackest day,” surpassing even that of her uncle and brother’s deaths, and implores her neighbors to look after their children. Sara distances herself, watching her aunt and brother make their way back home with the others following close behind. She realizes that Joe stuck around too, the boy asking if she’d like to attend the party later that evening. When Sara points out that she wasn’t invited, Joe says that he’s allowed a guest. Sara recalls the time Joe passed her in a car once more—allowing herself to imagine the nebulous “Hey Beautiful” as his own. Sara agrees to attend when Joe assures her the party’s a casual affair and that he wants her to come.

When Sara returns home, she finds Wanda alone, waiting on the porch. Wanda, who has a hospital job in addition to attending university, was left out of the events of the day. The older is hurt that she had to find out about her brother’s disappearance via radio; Sara catches her up. The sisters notice that Aunt Willie and Charlie are with some neighbors happily socializing and eating watermelon. Wanda is surprised to learn that Sara plans to attend the party later that evening—with her nemesis, no less. Sara assures her that Joe is “one of the nicest people I know” (126). When the phone rings, Sara offers to get Aunt Willie—only for her to hear her father’s voice. In an awkward exchange, Sam asks about Charlie, and Sara reassures him that he was found safe. Sam plans to see the children on the weekend as per (somewhat) usual. In a moment of clarity, the image of a staircase crosses Sara’s mind, each person on their own step, taking their own steps. Without any of the anger and frustration she expressed earlier in the novel, Sara realizes that her newly dyed shoes turned her feet blue. As the novel closes, Sara gets ready for the party.