The Chrysalids: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

David and the other members of the group receive a compelling call from Petra, who has ridden a pony into the sometimes-dangerous forest that separates Waknuk from the Fringes. While not as strong as her call when she fell into the water, this summons still carries with it so much feeling that it blocks the group’s communication channels. Consequently, David has no way of telling the others that he will go after Petra and that they needn’t heed her call.

David rides his horse into the forest until he reaches Petra, whose pony is being attacked by a mutated cat. Rosalind and Michael, who have also rushed to her aid, shoot the animal with arrows and then try to comfort Petra before the others respond to her call. Petra has no idea that she is emitting this signal, however, so they struggle to calm her down. Before they are able to do so, most of the group arrives in the forest. Michael is able to get away, but a stranger arrives at the scene before Sally, Katherine, David, and Rosalind can separate. The stranger questions them about how they could have all known Petra was in distress. Katherine and Sally say that they heard Petra and her pony screaming, but the stranger responds that he was right behind them and heard nothing. The man does not seem to believe their story.

David takes Petra home and the group discusses what to do about the stranger who saw them, now identified as Jerome Skinner. Michael tells the others that people have an idea that “telepathy” might be possible. He says there’s a chance that think-together might not be considered an Offense because God has the ability to see into people’s minds, and thus it would be in his image to be able to do the same. The group decides that they can never meet in person again, and that if Petra emits another call, everyone but David and Rosalind will do their best to ignore it.

David talks to Petra about thought-shapes and tries to teach her to control them. She struggles to moderate their intensity, but makes progress over time. Petra complains to David about the difficulty of understanding what the far away voices are saying. David thinks she is referring to Katherine and Sally, but it soon becomes clear that Petra has a much larger range than anyone else, and, as a result, can hear voices that no one else in the group can access.

A few days later, Uncle Axel tells David that a friend of the Inspector has been asking about him and Rosalind. He suspects that Petra might be to blame. David is shocked because he hasn’t told Uncle Axel about Petra, but Uncle Axel explains that before she died, Anne told Alan about everyone in the group. When Uncle Axel figured this out, he shot and killed Alan to prevent him from talking. He cannot figure out, however, how to account for the recent questions about David if Alan was killed weeks ago. David tells him about Jerome Skinner and the events with Petra’s pony. Michael realizes that Skinner only saw Petra, Rosalind, David, Sally, and Katherine, so the other members of the group are still in the clear. The group decides to start preparing so that everyone can escape quickly if necessary.