We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

During the night, Merricat hears an ambulance take Uncle Julian away. People call for the sisters, but no one comes into the woods. Because Uncle Julian believed Merricat was dead, Merricat takes his death to mean that people will die if they don’t respect her. She wonders how the house will be different, and whether the fire might have burned away the last six years and her family might have returned. Maybe she and Constance will be living in an entirely different house, or maybe she could persuade the fire to burn the village instead. Maybe the village is really a game board, and Merricat is almost at the end, where home is.

It’s Helen Clarke’s day to come to tea, but Merricat and Constance will have to straighten the house instead. Merricat decides that in the future she won’t be allowed to give people teacups. Still in the shelter, Merricat goes to Constance when Constance awakens, and Merricat tells her they’re finally on the moon. Constance feels like she’s dreamed everything that happened, but she thanks Merricat for bringing her to the shelter. Her face is dirty, and Jonas stares at her. Merricat says they need to neaten the house, and reminds her that she never ate dinner the night before. This concerns Constance.

Constance washes her face in the stream while Merricat folds Uncle Julian’s shawl, which Constance has been wearing. Merricat has never touched the shawl before, and it shows her that the rules are different now. Constance is worried Merricat will starve. They go carefully down the path, watching for anyone who might still be around. Finally they come to the edge of the woods and see their house. The second story is entirely gone, and they can hardly believe it. The garden is smoky and covered in ash.

The ground floor seems unharmed, so Constance opens the kitchen door. Merricat fears this will make the house collapse, but it doesn’t. Constance can hardly bear the sight of her kitchen. Merricat thinks perhaps they haven’t come home on the right path. The kitchen table is turned on its side, two chairs are smashed, and the floor is littered with broken dishes and silverware. The walls are covered with jam and syrup and the sink is filled with broken glass. It seems like all the treasures of the house, particularly the Blackwood women’s items, have been broken and scattered. Constance goes to the cellar to check on the preserves and finds that they haven’t been touched.

Constance prepares to make breakfast while Merricat begins to look for items that are still intact. Constance brings food up from the cellar and finds a saucepan on the floor. She discovers that some of the food in the pantry is untouched, and Merricat realizes that the floor is scattered with sugar. The villagers must have had lots of fun throwing it at each other. Merricat examines the cans and boxes of food broken on the floor, and Constance says the food in the cooler is also safe to eat.

Merricat puts three unbroken chairs around the table and drinks chicken soup. Time and orderly days have disappeared, so it’s impossible for Merricat to say in what order she does things. Constance thinks she hears Uncle Julian waking, then realizes this is impossible. They sit in the kitchen, unwilling to go further into the house yet. Constance says that there will be a funeral for Uncle Julian. Merricat was in the orphanage during the funerals for the rest of her family, but Constance went. She says he’ll be buried with the family. She remarks that she and Merricat are all that’s left, and they’re going to isolate themselves more than ever. Helen Clarke will never come to tea again.

The library books are still sitting on their shelf, and Merricat thinks this is because anyone who destroyed them would be fined. Constance sits still, staring into the distance, but Merricat says they need to clean up. The dining room is a mess, as the windows and chairs are broken. The front door is open and the drawing room drapes are in the hall. Merricat sees the marks of the cars and feet and hoses on the front lawn. She retrieves one of her mother’s Dresden figurines from under a bush and brings it to Constance.

Constance takes up the figurine and says that everything was her fault. Merricat says she loves her and requests a cake for herself and Jonas. Constance says she’s going to clean the kitchen. She goes to put the Dresden figurine back in the drawing room. The room is destroyed, though their mother’s portrait still hangs, undisturbed. Fabric is torn and dirty, and the walls are blackened. Constance hesitates, but Merricat steps out of the broken windows and closes the shutters. She goes back in through the front door, and Constance puts the figurine on the mantel. For a moment the room looks as it should, but then it falls apart forever.

The safe is on the ground, and they laugh at the fact that no one got it out of the house or opened it. They close the drawing room door, and no one ever goes in again. Merricat closes the shutters over the dining room windows, and then they lock the front door and feel safe. They can look out the glass beside the door, but no one can see in because the hall is so dark. There are spots of sky showing through upstairs, but Merricat doesn’t think anyone will come from above. She wonders where the house has gone as she feels the air come in from outside. She thinks of the house as a castle with turrets. Constance tells her to come back to the kitchen.

Merricat and Constance go through the trash on the kitchen floor to find everything that’s still intact, including china, silverware, cans of food, and spices. Every Blackwood woman brought her own china into the house. Constance designates a cup for each of them, reminiscing about which china their mother used. Then she sweeps everything into the dining room and they close the door forever. Merricat has Constance cut her a piece of the cord for the drapes, and she considers burying it for Uncle Julian.

They clean everything from the kitchen through the hall to the front door. They lock the front door and the kitchen door and feel safe, sitting at the kitchen table drinking milk. Then someone begins to knock on the front door, and they run into the cellar. Helen Clarke begins to call their names outside. Merricat wonders if she has come for tea. She comes around to knock on the kitchen door, convinced that the sisters are inside. Jim Clarke is with her, and she tells him that the sisters misunderstood the villagers the night before—no one meant them any harm. She wants Merricat and Constance to come to the Clarke house where she can take care of them, but Jim says to leave them alone.

Merricat thinks they’ll have to cover the kitchen window so Helen Clarke won’t be able to see in if she returns. Helen continues to call to them, and Constance gets impatient because her soup is going to boil over. The Clarkes finally return to their car. Merricat goes to the front door to make sure they’re leaving, and she can hear Helen still calling for Constance as they drive away. Merricat says Helen really wanted her tea, but Constance says she’ll never have tea there again, since they only have two cups with handles. Merricat is relieved that Uncle Julian isn’t there, or else someone would have to use a broken cup.

Constance asks how they’re going to live a normal life, but Merricat isn’t worried. There’s a dirty mattress on the stairs, and they pull it out onto the lawn to dry. They look at the spot where Uncle Julian used to sit, and Constance says she’ll bury a flower there. There’s lots to do, but Merricat thinks they’re going to be very happy. Constance is sad about her kitchen, but she’s neatened it up. Merricat suggests she could train Jonas to catch rabbits for them.

Constance makes an onion pie while Merricat covers the kitchen windows with cardboard so that no one can see in. She says it would help if they let the windows get dirty, but Constance can’t stand the idea of living in a house with dirty windows. She’s unhappy about the darkness of the kitchen, so Merricat says they can keep the door open if they watch for anyone approaching. The kitchen is cozy.

Merricat makes sure the front door is locked. Constance says that tomorrow she’ll clean Uncle Julian’s room so that Merricat can sleep there. However, Merricat says she isn’t allowed in his room. She wants to sleep in the kitchen on the mattress. Despite Constance’s worry, she goes out to her hiding place by the creek and retrieves her blanket. When she returns, Constance has made dinner. They plan the improvements they’ll make the next day.

A car stops in front of the house. Merricat makes sure the kitchen door is locked. There’s a knocking at the front door, but before long Jim Clarke and Dr. Levy come around to the kitchen door. They see a crack of light through the cardboard over the windows. Dr. Levy wants to know whether they’re hurt, and Jim Clarke is supposed to bring them home with him. They knock on the door. Dr. Levy says they don’t want to bother the sisters, just to know whether they’re safe. He just wants them to say they’re all right. Constance and Merricat are glad to see their safeguards are working.

Dr. Levy says that Uncle Julian’s funeral is the next day. Jim Clarke says the sisters might feel differently about their friends if they saw all the flowers that have been sent. Merricat doesn’t understand why flowers would make them feel differently. Constance takes a bite of her biscuit, and Merricat has to keep herself from laughing. Jim Clarke gets frustrated. Dr. Levy says one day they’ll need help, but Jim Clarke pulls him away and they walk around to the front. Merricat wonders if they’re trying to fool the sisters, but she hears the car drive away.

Constance apologizes for being wicked the night before and reminding Merricat of why their family died. Merricat is chilled and tells her not to remind her now. Constance wanted Merricat to forget about what happened. Merricat says she put the arsenic in the sugar because Constance never used sugar, and Constance says that she knows. They’ll never talk about it again. They say they love each other. They sleep on the kitchen floor that night. Constance says that, since she’s taken such good care of the kitchen, it has to welcome her now.