One Foot in Eden

Content Warning: This section of the novel contains descriptions of violence and murder.

The narrative shifts to Amy’s perspective, well before Holland’s disappearance. When Amy and Billy get married, they have difficulty getting pregnant. After a few months, they visit a doctor and discover that Billy is infertile. Amy has a flashback to when she was a child and recalls that one day, she pushed her little brother Matthew off the loft in the barn. Amy thought that she killed Matthew, but he survived and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. Amy always knew that God would make her pay for hurting Matthew, and she now believes that Billy’s infertility is God’s punishment. Amy believes that she and Billy can be happy without children, but Billy’s infertility causes them to grow apart. Her sister suggests that she visit the Widow Glendower, who may be able to help her. However, Amy’s mother tells her not to go to the Widow because it goes against God’s will.

Billy overhears Amy talking to her mother about his infertility and gets angry at her. Before long, everyone in Jocassee is gossiping about it. In church, Amy wonders how God could punish her for something that she did to Matthew when she was a child. Amy decides to see the Widow, but she feels nervous because her grandmother told her stories about the Widow putting hexes on people. When Amy gets to Widow Glendower’s house, the Widow asks if she believes what everyone says about her, and Amy lies and tells her that she does not. Amy explains about Billy’s infertility, and the Widow gives Amy tea for Billy and tells her to have sex with him under a waxing moon in a field. The Widow promises Amy that she will give birth to a child. Amy tries to pay the Widow, but the Widow refuses the money. When Amy gets home, she tells Billy what the Widow said. Billy seems skeptical, but they follow the Widow’s directions. Despite their efforts, Amy does not get pregnant.

A few months later, Amy returns to the Widow, who tells her to have sex with another man to get pregnant. The Widow suggests that she sleep with Holland. Amy thinks about how upset Billy has been about his infertility and imagines the happiness that a baby would bring to the marriage. She decides to follow the Widow’s advice. Amy tries to give the Widow payment, but the only payment that the Widow wants is to be the midwife when Amy’s baby is born.

The next day, Amy plants a dogwood tree near the area where Holland works. She does not say anything to him, but she can feel him watching her. At night, Amy whispers to Billy in his sleep that whatever she does will be for their marriage. The next morning, when Billy goes out to work in the fields, Amy puts on makeup and thinks about how she fell in love with Billy the first time she saw him. Amy goes outside, where Holland works on a fence. In view of Holland, Amy fills the outdoor bathtub with water from the well, undresses, and gets into the bathtub. She washes herself while Holland watches her. When she finishes, Amy turns to face Holland, naked. Holland crosses the field and tries to kiss Amy, but she turns away. She puts her towel on the ground, and they have sex. Afterward, Holland tries to talk to her, but Amy just tells him to go back to work.

The next day, Holland visits Amy and tells her that he feels differently about her than any other woman he has been with. Throughout the next few weeks, Holland visits Amy, and she never lets him inside the house; they always have sex outside. One day, Holland brings Amy his Gold Star as a present. Holland and Amy have sex in the woods, and Amy suddenly knows that she is pregnant. Amy gives the Gold Star back and tells him that she does not want to see him anymore. When Amy’s pregnancy starts to show in the next few months, Billy asks her who the father is. Amy answers honestly and knows that however Billy reacts will decide her future. The next day, Billy goes out to the fields. Holland comes to the house because he has learned that she is pregnant. He gives Amy the Gold Star for the baby when it is born. Amy slaps the Gold Star away and tries to get away from Holland, but he pushes her against the railing. Suddenly, a gunshot sounds, and Amy realizes that Billy has just fired a shotgun blast into the air. Before she knows it, Billy shoots Holland in the chest. Amy freezes because she does not know if Billy means to kill her too. Billy ties Holland to Sam’s back and takes barbed wire down to the river. Later, Amy hears another gunshot. She worries that Billy has killed himself, but he returns to the house. Amy finds the Gold Star on the porch and hides it inside a stump. When Billy gets home at night, he explains that he shot Sam and prepares Amy, telling her what to say when the sheriff visits her. He does not tell her what he did with the body so that she will not have to lie about it. After dinner, Billy and Amy have sex, and Amy knows that Billy accepts the baby as his own.

Over the next few months, Amy avoids Mrs. Winchester, who suspects Billy of Holland’s murder. When Amy has her baby shower, Mrs. Winchester gives Amy a gift, which turns out to be a picture of Holland. Amy burns it. She thinks about her promise to the Widow Glendower and suddenly fears that the Widow will burn the baby alive, as she believes witches have been known to do. Amy decides to ask Ella Addis to be her midwife instead.

At the end of January, Amy goes into labor. Ella and Amy’s mother come to the house to help Amy. Ella keeps Billy away because he has the flu. During Amy’s labor, she hallucinates that Widow Glendower and Mrs. Winchester stare at her through the window. Amy gives birth to a boy, whom she names Isaac. Over the next week, Billy develops pneumonia. The fever gets worse, and Billy starts talking about Holland. Amy knows that the Widow is the only person who can help Billy, so she goes out in the snow to speak with her. On the way, she slips and falls down a hill, becoming disoriented in the snow. She goes forward in the darkness, praying that she will live to be a mother to Isaac. She bumps into a dog in the dark, who leads her towards the Widow’s house. Before she can knock on the door, she passes out on the porch. When Amy wakes up, she is sitting by the fire in the Widow’s house. The Widow asks why Amy did not keep her promise. Amy admits that she thought the Widow would hurt him, and the Widow laughs at her superstition. Amy tells the Widow about Billy’s fever, but the Widow promises that she did not curse Billy to punish Amy. The Widow gives Amy another tea that she says will break Billy’s fever. The Widow predicts that fire and water are in Billy’s future, but that Billy will not die by fire. Amy gives Holland’s Gold Star to the Widow as payment, and the Widow accepts it. In the spring, Amy focuses on raising Isaac instead of thinking about Billy’s crime. However, she knows that one day she will pay for her actions, and that the price will be steep.