Unlikely Animals

The narrative reverts to The Collected Writings of Ernest Harold Baynes and reproduces a text entitled “Jimmie the Bear Overdoes It.” Harold recalls adopting an orphaned baby bear, Jimmie. One day, the Baynes couple arrived home from a public-speaking circuit to find their larder broken into. The bear was wandering around in a state of intoxication from eating too much sugar. Mrs. Baynes forgot her husband’s misdemeanors while delighting in Jimmie’s antics.

Emma goes to the elementary school for her interview and is immediately sent into the classroom. Her pupils question her about her return to Everton, and she tells them about her lost healing gift. The children make it a “class project” to try to restore her powers (105). During recess, she reads the students’ files, detailing their traumatic family backgrounds. She sees that one of their classmates died the previous year. Looking at the photo of the beautiful Claire Wish, she feels inadequate.

This chapter provides some background on Leanne Hatfield. Leanne’s parents died in a murder-suicide when she was a baby. Leanne was the best friend of Isabella Eakin, the girl who died of what appeared to be a rare form of leukemia.