Time 51-100

Summary
Henry, 27, is teaching Henry, 9, how to pick pocket. After a successful lesson they go to their hotel and have a chat. Henry, 27, reveals to his 9-year-old self who he is for the first time.

Next we hear from 15-year-old Henry who is with himself from next March. The two have a conversation about not being able to change the past. They also talk about free will and how it's something that you only have in the present - that basically what's in the past is done.

Then, Henry is 19 in Zion, Ill. where he's been arrested for attempting to break into a house nude.

Clare, 11, in May, 1983, is at a sleepover with friends and they play with a Quija board and when it's Clare's turn mysteriously the piece moves and spells out H E N R Y to the question "What boys like Clare?" Then, the plastic piece moves again and spells out H U S B A N D.

In April, 1984 Henry is 36 and Clare, 12. They're playing chess and Clare is asking Henry who he likes and if he's married. He thinks about it but decides she's too young to know he's married to her. At the end of the account, Clare is crying. Henry asks what's wrong and she says "... I thought maybe you were married to me."

Next, Clare is 15. She's in the meadow alone missing Henry.

It's September 1984, Henry is 34, Clare 13. They discuss God and free will.

In October 27, 1984 Clare, 13 recounts the time she woke suddenly thinking she hears Henry calling for her. She goes outside to find Henry with her father and brother in the orchard looking at something. She has a feeling that something bad has just happened.

Next Clare is 15, Henry, 38, and they are in the "Reading Room," a little room she fixed up for him next to the furnace room. Henry seems distressed so she asks him about what is going on from the future from which he comes. He tries to avoid answering and accidentally slips out a "was" when talking about her mother. He finally tells her how her mother dies.

Then we hear from Clare, 16, she's just gotten her license and is going to a party. Henry, 32, goes with her, but stays out in the car.

Later that year, Clare has gone out on a date and the young man beat her up for not putting out. Henry and Clare go to the boy's home and tie him up. Clare calls every girl she knows to come look at the display.

Questions
Who was moving the plastic piece of the Quija board?

What's the deal about what happens in the orchard when Clare sees her father, brother and Henry?

Henry asks Clare which she believes: "...block universe, where past, present and future all coexist simultaneously and everything has already happened; chaos, where anything can happen and nothing can be predicted because we can't know all the variables; and a Christian universe in which God made everything and it's all here for a purpose but we have free will anyway." Which do you believe? What do you think Henry believes?

My thoughts
This may be a little edgy to say or premature (maybe sounds a little crazy) but I think that Henry's ghost was moving the plastic piece. I think that at the end of the novel Henry will die, but somehow be able to travel through time to "be" with Clare. Again, this may be too far-fetched, just one idea.

I have no idea about the deal in the orchard, but I can't wait to find out. Again, maybe Henry was a ghost. It didn't really seem that the father and brother were aware of him.

I think Henry believes that everything has happened and nothing can be changed. I personally believe there is a purpose but that we have free will.


I loved the quote... "If I could only read his mind, how much easier life would be." Isn't that the truth Clare, isn't that the truth!