The Saints of Swallow Hill

As time passes, Rae Lynn is happy and begins to feel like Sudie May and Amos’s house could be home. However, her memories of Warren still haunt her, and she worries that she and Cornelia have been there too long. She discusses it with Cornelia, who feels relaxed, happy, and safe for the first time since she married Otis and does not want to leave. Though Rae Lynn confesses that she does not want to leave, Cornelia reluctantly agrees to leave when Rae Lynn decides.

Rae Lynn eventually tells Sudie May that she has overstayed her welcome while helping her work, to which Sudie May says she is happy that Rae Lynn and Cornelia are there. When Del appears, Sudie May tells him that Rae Lynn is planning on leaving. Del then has Sudie May reveal that she is pregnant with her and Amos’s third child. She explains to Rae Lynn that because her last birth was difficult, she wanted to rest more and have someone help her around the house. Rae Lynn agrees to stay until Sudie May gives birth, which makes both Sudie May and Del happy.

Over the next few months, Rae Lynn and Cornelia help Sudie May. Rae Lynn also starts to notice Del more, and Sudie May reveals that he visits their parents’ graves often. This makes Rae Lynn think about her burial of Warren. She starts planning to visit Warren’s grave one last time to make peace with his death. One October day, she wakes up before dawn, leaves a note saying she will return by noon, and leaves in the truck.

Del wakes up early to see Rae Lynn carrying a pair of boots downstairs. This reminds him of when he would sneak out of the house on Saturday mornings to hunt and fish with his friend Buddy Blalock. He gets dressed as well, hoping to talk to her. Then he hears the truck engine. He goes downstairs to see Cornelia in the kitchen. He asks her if Rae Lynn said anything and tells her she left. Cornelia says she did not tell her anything. Del suspects Rae Lynn might have gone back to the other man about whom Sudie May talked. Cornelia confirms that it is about another man, but not like he thinks. She also says Rae Lynn might be in trouble.

Del and Cornelia go after her to Harnett County. They see her truck and follow it till they reach a house. They stop and walk there until they see Rae Lynn sobbing outside. A man then confronts and grabs her. Rae Lynn calls his name and Cornelia tells Del it is Butch. Del and Cornelia come toward them and stand beside Rae Lynn. Butch confronts her again about not getting a doctor, and she explains that Warren would not let her. Butch reveals that he sold everything and bought the house from Eugene so that she could stay in the house with him. Rae Lynn says that is not her fault. Butch asks Del if he knows about her husband, to which he says he knows all he needs to about her and nothing would change his mind about her. Rae Lynn looks at him and sees that he truly cares about and loves her.

In the winter, Rae Lynn gets a headstone for Warren’s grave and places it with Cornelia’s and Butch’s help. Before she and Cornelia leave, Butch tells her she can come to see Warren’s grave any time she wants, surprising the two women. Over time, she visits and places flowers on Warren’s grave occasionally. On one visit in February, however, Butch comes close to her and grabs her. She struggles and elbows him in the nose. He lets her go, but she twists her ankle. He says she owes him for what he did for her, but she tells him she never wanted that from him and does not love him. Butch threatens to tell Eugene what happened, but she threatens to tell Eugene he shot Warren. Butch tells her not to visit the house again, and she leaves.

When she returns home, she tells Cornelia, Del, and Sudie May about her visit. They see her limp and force her to soak her foot. Later that day, Del and Amos surprise Rae Lynn with her hens and Ida Neill Cobb’s dinnerware. Del had persuaded Butch to give them to her. She happily thanks them.

In the spring, Del advances his turpentine operation and tells Rae Lynn about his grandfather’s and father’s operations. She shares her attempted operation with Warren, which impresses him. He offers her a job as a woods rider, which she accepts. Soon after, Sudie May goes into labor and gives birth to her and Amos’s son, whom they name Darren after Amos’s great-grandfather.

Later, Rae Lynn sits with Cornelia. They reveal their struggles with infertility and hold each other’s hands. Rae Lynn becomes uncomfortable when Cornelia caresses her hand with her thumb. Cornelia cries and apologizes, knowing that Rae Lynn does not reciprocate her feelings. She reveals that she liked another girl named Rebecca when she was younger. Cornelia’s parents made her marry Otis after catching her in an intimate moment with Rebecca. Otherwise, they would have disowned her. Rae Lynn does not reciprocate her feelings, but says she cares about her and cherishes her friendship. This satisfies Cornelia.

Sometime later, Del and Rae Lynn are in the barn looking at the turpentine tools. He talks about a future on this property with her and asks her if she could see that future. She says she can.

Seven years later, Del and Rae Lynn are happily married with two sons and a daughter. Peewee visits them and talks with them on the porch, as Cornelia, Sudie May, and Amos work and listen. Del hopes to teach his boys about turpentine work and keep that business and the longleaf pines alive. He uses the story of James Boyd and Helen Boyd Dull to compare with his goal of saving those trees and maintaining their legacy. Peewee then says a gator killed Crow while he was chasing a Black man. Though he did not like him, Del finds it a rather nasty death. He then plays tunes on his harmonica and sits contented with the life and family he has.

Rae Lynn drives back to the property, where she expects to meet Del and their sons for dinner. She enters the kitchen, where their daughter, Belinda, had messily eaten her dinner. She says she gets her appetite from Del and mentions her own increased appetite. She then reveals to Sudie May that she is pregnant again and they celebrate.

Del, their sons, Amos, and his sons come home, and Del teaches the boys how to use the barrels. Rae Lynn looks at them lovingly and recounts her worry that she and Del could not have children. Shortly after they married, Del told her about his sexual past, the grain bin, and his struggle to get erect following the experience. She told him they had time and mentioned her fertility issues with Warren. She then revealed the nature of Warren’s death, which Del told her was a mercy. This touched her. She thinks about how thankful she is for their children and how they represent her and Del’s love and goes to embrace them.

Two years later, eight-year-old Delwood and six-year-old Jeremiah are learning to make catfaces in the longleaf pines from their father. Their parents have been teaching them everything they know about turpentine farming, and they love the work and what it means to the family. They adore their mother and give her stones that they find. In the woods, Rae Lynn demonstrates chipping to the boys and tests their knowledge about the process of turpentining. They answer each question correctly.

They recall stories about their parents, as well as their memories of Cornelia, whom they knew as Aunt Nellie. Aunt Nellie developed a malignant lump in her throat after Christmas in 1940 and died six months later. Rae Lynn was devastated by her death, and the boys brought her stones to comfort her. Eventually she healed, but still visits Aunt Nellie’s grave often.

Rae Lynn gets a letter from Butch Crandall and must sign a document. The boys meet him and Eugene and see Warren’s grave with Rae Lynn before leaving for the farmhouse, where they play at the riverbank. There, they see their parents hold each other and, comparing them with what they now know about the longleaf pines, believe their love will be everlasting.