Bone Gap

Roza finds herself in the high tower of a castle. There’s a moat filled with beasts. Her kidnapper touches her even though she doesn’t want him to. 

When she was young, Roza was what her grandmother called a “golobki,” a person who isn’t very bright. She had thought strong boys who carried her over puddles were impressive rather than being strong herself. As she grew up, she stood up to men who tried to use her and her friends. Others misread her. They thought that she believed herself to be better than everyone else because of her striking beauty.

Her kidnapper asks if she wants him yet and doesn’t listen to her. Roza deflects by asking about the dog that almost mauled her.

Finn shows Sean the new horse and introduces the horse to their goat. He looks for Calamity, but he can’t find her anywhere. Her food bowl is empty, and Finn gets worried. He becomes even more anxious when Charlie Valentine comes to their house and asks about one of his chickens who has gone missing. Finn asks Charlie about the horse, and Charlie insists he didn’t give it to them. Sean tells Finn to tend to the animals. He teases Finn that he’s making him work now before Finn goes away to college. Finn is upset that Sean seems to want him to leave.

They have dinner together. Finn takes the horse for a ride to search for Charlie’s chicken and Calamity. He goes to Petey’s house. She rides the horse, Night, into the woods with him. They see impossible, magical things in the woods, like the foggy cemetery and the brightly colored fields. At the end of the ride, they kiss. They don’t find the chicken or Calamity. When Finn gets home, he finds Calamity under his bed with six tiny kittens.

Roza forges a friendship with the dog, Rus, who mauled her. She recalls her past boyfriends in Poland and her first years in America as a student. She has been endlessly harassed for her beauty. At school, she met Karolina, a sweet girl, and Honorata, a girl who enjoyed belittling others. Roza discovered America is nothing like she imagined and missed home. Roza attended classes in a greenhouse with an old professor. Roza garnered a lot of praise for her cooking and attentiveness, earning the nickname “Mama.” This made Honorata jealous.

Roza met a guy named Bob, and she, Karolina, and Honorata took a ride in his car. Bob had misogynistic views, like the idea that girls can’t do math, and Roza called him out on this. Honorata tried to embarrass Roza, but Bob was still interested in her. He asked her out for dinner, and she declined. He called her a “stuck-up bitch” (122). When Roza tried to reenter her dorm room, Honorata had it locked. Honorata had been with Bob, who wasn’t treating her well. Roza tried to comfort Honorata, but Honorata took her anger out on Roza. Roza knew they deserved better.

After returning from her memory to the castle, Roza decides to steal a knife from the dinner table.