As Carpenter and Faulkner attempt to track down a hidden church, Carpenter dwells on the miracle of the fishing boat and its meaning - while Faulkner reflects on his childhood.[2]
| ATTENTION: SPOILERS AHEAD! Beyond this point, major plot spoilers are expected. Continue at your own risk. |
Description[]
Inside the Motel[]
The chapter opens with a prayer from Faulkner, simpler and less violent in language than that of Mason in the previous chapter.
Next scene, Carpenter negotiates with Stanton for use of the motel lobby phone. She then calls Mason, taking the precaution of having him call her back before they talk. While the phone rings, she gives an aside on a minor god called the Stitched Lip. She tells Mason, in coded speech, that the miracle of Marcel's Crossing was of the Trawler-man. In response he directs her to a bookshop (the Tatty Spine) to seek further information, telling her to use the false identity of Sandra.
In an aside, Carpenter then elaborates that she will be posing as a worshipper of the Waxen Scrivener, as well as on the appearance of her disguise and her hesitation to join Faulkner in prayer to the Trawler-man.
At the Tatty Spine[]
We cut to outside of the Tatty Spine, where Carpenter berates a chipper Faulkner for taking photographs. He calls her on not giving him agency thus far, but says witnessing the miracle has put him in a good mood.
Inside, they meet Peterson, the proprietor. Carpenter speaks a coded phrase to identify her as part of the Waxen Scrivener's cult. In amongst narration and discussion of the Waxen Scrivener's nature, Carpenter inquires to map the territories of the 'false faiths'.
Peterson talks of the area's history and geography, mentioning The Slag King, The Saint Electric and The Petropater by name as 'interloper faiths' and 'commercial gods', having established themselves in Ees. He refers to field-gods and slaughterhouse deities in the farmland, before coming onto the Followers of the Trawler-man. He states that they have 'long since fled', being made examples of after the passing of Devlin's edicts.
Finally he directs them to Penda's Slake, which his brother, Abel, identified as the haunt of an unknown god- finding prayer-marks and sacrifices, though the records were lost.
Before they can leave, Peterson invites them to meet his Saint, who he explains was his brother before being hallowed. To preserve their cover, they agree, and are ushered to meet a colossal larva, sat in a chair, writing in black ink with its pincers on scattered papers. The larva takes offence to the interruption and charges at them, and Peterson ushers them back out again.
Outside, Carpenter and Faulkner discuss the larvae, and Carpenter plans their next move, to take her to Penda's Slake, and for Faulkner to go hide the fishing boat. Carpenter rationalises her plan to him, but in aside states that really she wants to be alone.
Inside the Car[]
Next location, inside the car we hear a little from Sid Wright over the radio, who speaks jovially about the music, and praises the Daily Grind and the Signal which will not cease. He also asks that his voice 'holds out as long as it can'. The car stops, and Faulkner drops Carpenter off, who instructs him to be back by dusk. He notes that she leaves her revolver behind.
As he drives away, Faulkner begins a long narration. He speaks of growing up with 2 siblings, that he plays up his innocence and naivety. He then says Carpenter is making assumptions of him, that he's simple with untested faith, and that she is no longer able to be happy with their faith. He then says he first saw the sacred river 16 days earlier.
He then talks more of his childhood, that he grew up on the trade roads, across the Whisper Plains, describing the foliage and housing, and the local legend that sometimes the angels of the Saint Electric walked, and that if they destroyed your house in the process you could get a fortune in hush money.
He then talks of his father, who worked on nights on the wind farms forty miles out from their house. He states that his father's 'frankly inadequate' salary was spent in full on food, water, and keeping his brothers and him in school. Due to being tired, he relied on his children to take themselves to school, which Faulkner and his brothers used to explore the forest where they lived.
He states that that was how he found the Trawler-man, through a rusted water tank in the woods bearing prayer marks. He states that he watched the movements in the water for hours, and a version of his reflection gone 'wrong'. On the third day of this, his middle brother Charlie interrupted him after watching for 'longer than [he] realised', with the sun high in the sky.
Faulkner then describes the voice of the Trawler-man, which he says told him that if you lower your head into the water and imagine yourself to be drowning, you will hear music, which gets clearer the longer you stay under. He repeated this to Charlie, and says that though at the time he thought himself tricksy, he now realised he had assumed the role of a prophet.
His brother then submerged his head in the tank, for some time, that bubbles were no longer rising, though he remained still, before surfacing bright and smiling. Charlie said he heard the music, but couldn't make out the words. He instructs Faulkner to sit on his back to keep him under, that he'll give a thumbs up when he's heard the words and 'it's safe to let me come back up'.
This time, with Faulkner on his back, instead of going calm when the bubbles stopped, Charlie began to thrash. However, he did not raise a thumbs up, and so Faulkner kept him pushed down into the water. Eventually, his brother went still. He remained until sundown, after which Faulkner got off his brother's back and went home.
He then states that the Drowning Song had already begun to spread across the schoolyards of the Peninsula, and that the law officers explained to his father that Charlie had fallen victim to the 'viral craze'. In the wake of his brother's death, Faulkner's remaining brother, Eddie, became more protective of him, removing his opportunities to go back to the water tank, while his father became more absent.
In school, Faulkner gained a little popularity by his link to the drowning song through his brother. They were given an assembly on the dangers of 'revelatory exposure', which did little, and Faulkner and his classmates took part in the 'challenge of the Drowning Song', to little result. Faulkner copied the markings as he remembered them from the tank, leaving them around the school.
Some time later, the Drowning Song had passed, and his brother had left for the city, promising to come back for them. Faulkner states that the Trawler-man remained with him, as he left his house behind and joined the Followers of the Trawler-man. He says that the Trawler-man's voice guided him to the fishing boat, but that Carpenter couldn't understand his relationship with the god.
Back At the Motel[]
We then cut to inside the motel. Faulkner is receiving a call from Mason, where he says (in loosely coded talk) that Carpenter had gone out alone, not telling him why. He then accuses her of leaving the faith. Mason offers to send someone out to collect them both, but at Faulkner's refusal, tells him to call the police if he cannot handle her.
Faulkner then ends the chapter with an aside, directed to the Trawler-man. He says that at his first sight of the river he thought he saw Charlie's transformed face looking at him. He says that he suspects the Trawler-man brought him and Carpenter together for a reason. He then says, at the Trawler-man's sign, he'll drown Carpenter.
Trivia[]
- In this chapter, Carpenter calls Faulkner, "A constant regret."