Homecoming Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary

  • The next morning, Dicey asks how James is feeling.
  • The answer is not great, so they're going to have to stay put at this lovely beach. Darn.
  • It's the weekend now, so lots of families are hanging out at Rockland State Park and lounging on the beach.
  • Edie and Lou manage to find the Tillermans' camp and stop by; Edie has an autoharp and she sings with the kids.
  • Afterward, Dicey, Sammy, and Maybeth head off to go fishing. But then Sammy announces that he's not going to help, and books for the playground.
  • Dicey manages to catch a whole mess of fish and she and Maybeth head back to camp. There they run into Sammy who has a surprise: He "found" a whole bag of food—sandwiches, potato chips, cookies. Sammy says the bag was just sitting there in the woods behind the bathroom, but Dicey thinks it looks suspiciously like someone's lunch.
  • What does it matter? James asks—they're hungry, and the people who had this food obviously aren't. Plus, they can probably buy more. That's what Louis was telling them at least.
  • Dicey isn't swayed, though, and is serious about the kids not stealing.
  • They can't give the food back without getting caught, though, so they eat some of the sandwiches and save the rest for later.
  • That night, Edie and Lou come by with some oranges for James.
  • They also mention that some dude in the store was bellyaching about how someone stole his lunch at the beach. Lou doesn't feel too badly for him, though, since the guy was rich jerk who wanted to call the cops. Over some food? Whoever stole his lunch is practically a hero.
  • Edie asks Dicey privately if they might have taken off with the grub, but Dicey denies it.
  • The next day, James still isn't feeling up to walking again—shocking, we know.
  • But they have even bigger problems: Sammy has "found" another bag of food… and a wallet.
  • Dicey is livid. What part of no stealing does this kid not get? She makes Sammy take the wallet back and put it where he picked it up. Maybe the people will come back for it. Or maybe someone else will make off with the twenty bucks that was in there… Sigh.
  • That evening, after dinner, Edie and Lou appear again. It's nice to have someone else around, but Dicey dreads their questions and the influence Louis is having on James and Sammy.
  • As they walk back to their camp, the kids spot a police car looking by their camp. Maybe for some wallet thieves?
  • Dicey announces that they are leaving the next morning—she knows James is faking his little head injury and she's done with his nonsense.
  • They manage to fall asleep in the woods, but don't get too comfortable there knowing that the cops are lurking.