- On Wednesday morning, after breakfast, Joel writes a letter to his friend Sammy Silverstein in New Orleans, but realizes that his letter is full of lies. Then he writes one to Ellen, his aunt, whom he lived with after his mother died.
- He writes that he hasn't seen his father and that he hates it at the Landing. He asks Ellen if his mother left enough money to send him to a military boarding school.
- He feels better after writing and grabs some change to leave in the mailbox since he doesn't have any stamps.
- At the mailbox Joel sees Zoo talking to Little Sunshine, a hermit. Little Sunshine tells him to make a cross and spin around, so he does.
- Little Sunshine has given Zoo a charm, which she has tied around her neck but doesn't want to talk about.
- Joel leaves his letters and coins in the mailbox and heads off to visit Idabel and Florabel.
- Little Sunshine catches up to Joel on the road. Joel asks him to make a charm for him, like Zoo's, that will keep anything terrible from happening to him.
- Little Sunshine says that he'll have to come get the charm from him at the abandoned hotel by Drownin Pond, where he lives.
- Florabel welcomes Joel and talks smack about her sister, who wants to be a farmer.
- She combs her hair and plucks her eyebrows while they talk, and Idabel comes up with a big watermelon and an old dog.
- Florabel wants to know if he's seen anything strange at the Landing, but he won't tell her anything.
- Idabel cuts into the watermelon and they all eat. Joel asks about Drownin Pond, and Idabel turns green with envy when she finds out that he's talked to Little Sunshine.
- Florabel calls Idabel's dog nasty and says that their dad is going to shoot him, and Idabel attacks her.
- Florabel climbs a tree to escape Idabel, and Idabel waits her out at the bottom, calling Joel a sissy. Joel leaves.
- When he gets back to the Landing Joel sees that the mailbox flag is still up, meaning the mailman hasn't come yet. He looks inside of it and sees, on his father's stationery and in his handwriting, several letters addressed to a Mr. Pepe Alvarez care of the postmaster in various cities around the world.
- Joel's letters are missing from the mailbox, and the coins are in the dirt at his feet. Did someone steal his letters?
- Joel hears two gunshots from nearby.