With Ess and Loo asleep, Jinny reads the letter inside the envelope she found while disassembling the couch in the book cabin. It’s from Abigail (Abbie) Ellis, the girl who wrote in all the books, and it’s addressed to her mother. This is surprising to Jinny because no one on the island ever remembers their mothers for long, and most assume they don’t have parents, which is why they’re on the island. This is also the first letter of any kind Jinny has ever seen since they don’t have paper and pens now. However, she knows what letters are from books, and she knows that it’s weird she found the letter in a couch because it clearly was never sent to Abbie’s mother.

In the letter, Abbie tells her mom that someone named Geoffrey has promised to give her this letter after he leaves on the boat and returns to wherever the boat takes people. It’s apparently against the rules to write home while on the island, but Abbie is doing it anyway because she misses her mother more than she realized she would. Abbie says she didn’t understand what she was committing to by agreeing to come live on the island.