Part 2 begins with Miranda’s preparations for Cocoa and George’s visit to Willow Springs. Worried that she does not have enough peaches for the cobbler she is making, Miranda decides to go to Ruby’s property to pick some of hers. The interaction is uncomfortable but harmless enough: Ruby agrees to let Miranda pick as many peaches as she needs. While doing so, though, Miranda gets an unsettling feeling that “there’s something funny going on” (287).

George is excited about finally visiting Willow Springs, but he is caught off guard by the island’s odd geographical situation. He explains he “really did want to go, but I wanted to know exactly where I was going” (288). Once there, Cocoa and George have dinner with Abigail and Miranda, and the sisters reveal that they have been planning a small party with the locals in celebration of the marriage. Ruby and Junior Lee interrupt the dinner with a gift of more peaches, and Abigail invites them to the upcoming party.

In bed that night, George has a disturbing dream in which he is swimming in The Sound, which is the body of water that separates Willow Springs from the mainland.