Playing Beatie Bow

At breakfast, Kathy admires Abigail’s new dress, and chatters on and on happily. When Abigail asks her mother what she’s so happy about, Kathy confesses that she had dinner with Weyland last night. The two had never been officially divorced, and they have seen each other a few times a year each year since their split. Weyland takes Abigail out every once in a while as well, but there is an awkwardness and the lingering memory of rejection between them.

Abigail asks her mother if she had just run into Weyland, but Kathy confesses that she has seen her husband quite a few times recently. She apologizes for lying to Abigail, and then tells her daughter that Weyland wants for them all to be a family again. Abigail is filled with a “burning wave of dismay.” She inquires pointedly about “Miss Thingo,” the woman for whom Weyland left Kathy and Abigail behind—Kathy reminds Abigail that Weyland’s mistress, Jan, left him a year ago. Kathy begs Abigail to take the situation seriously, and really consider letting Weyland back into their lives.

Abigail is shocked and disappointed to realize that her mother is considering Weyland’s proposal in earnest, but Kathy insists that Abigail cannot understand love yet—she has not experienced it, and does not know how powerful it can be. Abigail accuses her mother of having no self-respect. Kathy insists that she has always loved Weyland, despite how he has hurt her and Abigail, and wants to try to make things work. She also reveals to Abigail that Weyland wants the two of them to travel with him to Norway, where he is about to embark on a three-year architectural study.

This is too much for Abigail—she is seized by jealousy and anger, and tells her mother that even though Kathy might want to put herself in a situation where she could get “dumped” a second time, Abigail herself will not do such a thing. Kathy protests, exclaiming that she could never leave Abigail in Australia at her age—and Abigail is struck by the realization that if it came down to a choice, her mother would choose Weyland. Abigail coolly tells her mother that she would rather live on her own at boarding school than go to Norway, and then she goes to her bedroom and slams the door.

Kathy taps on Abigail’s bedroom door and attempts to get her to come back out, but Abigail ignores her mother’s quiet pleas. After she hears her mother leave for work, Abigail dons her new green dress, and instantly feels a little bit better. The more she thinks about her sappy mother, though, the angrier she gets—she can’t believe her mother would abandon Abigail and the shop for love. Abigail rages and sulks throughout the house, unable to picture herself living in Norway, but fighting off the sinking feeling that her mother is going to move there no matter what.

Later that afternoon, Abigail heads over to the Crowns’. She tells Justine she is bored, and offers to take the children to the playground. Justine tells her to just take Natalie—Vincent is ill with a sore throat. When Justine notices Abigail’s dress, she asks her if it is the old rag—the family lace—that she has sewn to the yoke, but their conversation is interrupted by Vincent’s moaning.

On the way down to the playground, Natalie tells Abigail that she was able to see the little furry girl on the playground from all the way up in the apartment. Natalie is a much happier child without her brother around, but still is drawn to watching the frightening games of Beatie Bow. As the game begins, Natalie points out the little furry girl to Abigail—Abigail notices the little girl, who is pale and dressed in a pinafore, with close-clipped hair that looks like cat’s fur.

Natalie suggests they go speak to the little girl. As they approach her, Abigail notices that she is probably eleven, but small for her age—she is barefoot, and the skin on her feet is cracking and peeling. Natalie says hello to the child, who is instantly startled; the furry girl flees down the alleyway. Natalie instantly begins to cry. Abigail returns Natalie to her apartment, and as she hugs Abigail goodbye, Natalie tells her that the little furry girl has known much unhappiness. Abigail asks Natalie how she knows—Natalie says she just does.

Abigail returns to her own apartment, where she argues some more with her mother about Weyland’s proposition. Kathy berates Abigail for never once having considered how her mother might feel about things, and only ever focusing on her own emotions. Kathy tells Abigail that she will not let her daughter stand in the way of her own happiness, and then hurries off to the bathroom and locks herself in.

In the morning, there is a stony coldness between Kathy and Abigail, but Abigail nonetheless agrees to help out at the shop for the weekend. As the days go by, the two exchange barely a word. Abigail is deeply upset, and the only thing that makes her feel a little bit better is her new green dress. When Kathy yells at Abigail for constantly stroking the fabric, Abigail grabs an old shawl, throws it around her shoulders, and runs away from the shop. As Abigail rides the bus home, she realizes how cruel and thoughtless she has been toward her mother, and begins crying.

When Abigail gets off the bus, she passes the playground. Darkness is falling, and many children are being called in for supper. Abigail again sees the little furry girl in the corner of the playground, and thinks that she does look rather forlorn; the way Abigail feels on the inside. As she watches the little girl, she is reminded of Natalie. She approaches the little girl and startles her with a “Boo.” The little girl shouts at Abigail in a hoarse Scottish accent, claiming that she wasn’t doing anything, she was only watching the children play. She says something about not wanting “it” to be true, and then hurriedly runs away.

Abigail follows the little girl down an unfamiliar alleyway, calling after her, promising that all she wants to do is talk. Abigail catches up with the little girl as the alleyway opens up into a road. Down in the city, the Town Hall clock chimes six. Abigail follows the girl into the road, and is amazed when suddenly she hears horse’s hooves and sees that the street lights have been replaced with lamps holding candles. A horse-drawn cab nearly hits the stunned Abigail, who believes she is dreaming. Abigail observes strange, foreign-looking women and dirty, ragged children as she runs through the streets; one child throws a half-decayed rabbit’s head at her feet. Though Abigail is disoriented and unsure of where she is, she knows one thing—the little furry girl, whoever she is, will be able to tell her.