The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) Chapter 24 Summary

The Death of the Worthless Coward

  • Todd has a moment of serious self-loathing, including wanting to kill himself with the knife.
  • He is about to meet his doom until he hears silence behind him.
  • Viola takes some weird rope covered in lights and throws it over Prentiss Jr., who starts freaking out as the rope electrocutes him.
  • Once he stops moving, Todd stands over him with the knife, ready to finish him off, but Viola stops him, saying, "you're not a killer, Todd" (24.37). He's furious, and Viola tries to calm him.
  • She says that these men are chasing him because they can literally tell that he's not a killer—she could even tell when they first met—and they want to corrupt him into their own kind.
  • She also points out that Prentiss Jr. is a liar, and could have lied about killing Ben and Cillian.
  • Todd retorts that he's a man, though, and Viola gets frustrated that he keeps using a birthday to define who he is (or isn't).
  • They patch up Manchee's wounds, then they tie up Prentiss Jr. Unfortunately, though, it turns out that the rope Viola used to nab him was going to help her contact her ship.
  • They continue in silence for a while until they hear someone frying fish over a fire. Todd knows immediately—it's a Spackle.