COLD SASSY TREE - BOOK NOTES

CHAPTER 45

Summary

Loma and the baby move into Will's home, forcing him to give up his bedroom and sleep in an old bed on the back porch. Eventually Loma gets used to Camp being gone and realizes that her life is actually easier, for she now has Queenie and the rest of the family to help take care of little Camp. She soon gets bored with her life of relative leisure and asks for a job at the store.

Rucker doesn't hire Loma immediately, but he is getting more and more involved with Love. Business at the store is getting ahead of them. He finally hires Hosie Roach, over Will's subtle objections. Will tires to tell his grandfather that Hosie is dirty and carries lice, but when Hosie comes for the interview, he is scrubbed clean. Grandpa likes him and hires him. Will is jealous because he envisions Hosie taking his spot and getting paid to do it.

A short time later, Love offers to train Loma as a milliner. Loma is happy to be in the public eye again, but Will is miserable. The two people he dislikes the most are both at the store where he has to tolerate them every day.

Notes

Camp's death will actually be a positive event for Loma, and the working partnership between her and Love will put a severe damper on any further criticism of Love and Rucker. Will's misery is temporary and more of an act than real discomfort. He has made a practice of hating Loma and Hosie. Part of growing up is shaking off the childhood animosity and interacting as an adult which he will ultimately do. In hiring Hosie, Rucker is also setting an example and creating the possibility for better futures for some of the mill town people.

CHAPTER 46

Summary

As if things could get any worse for Will, Lightfoot meets him on the day of his 15th birthday when he is on the way home from school. She tells him that she does not think ill of him for kissing her, and that she is getting married to Hosie Roach. She wanted Will to hear it from her first. Will feels as if his world is falling apart.

Notes

The suspense begun in the cemetery is brought to a resolution as we see that Lightfoot will never marry Will. Hosie is not a bad person; Will's hatred toward him was only on account of Lightfoot. Will is not going to get the girl but he will always be able to cherish the memory of that first kiss and he has some comfort in knowing that she enjoyed it.

CHAPTER 47

Summary

Grandpa's store is robbed late one night by two men who showed up earlier in the day pretending to be cotton buyers. Rucker almost gets the drop on them with their own gun, but they goad him into taking warning shots, thus using the last two bullets in the gun. They beat Rucker badly and take all the day's cash along with some gold coins he had saved in the nail keg.

Notes

None needed

CHAPTER 48

Summary

Rucker is still trying to recover from his injuries. Will goes to visit and overhears Rucker and Love discussing Rucker's ideas about God. The conversation becomes intimate, telling Will that Love and his grandfather have indeed fallen in love and have become truly man and wife. He thinks they are about to live "happy ever after," but instead of getting well, Grandpa begins to run a fever and takes a turn for the worse.

Notes

Will begins to more fully understand his grandfather's ideas about God. The discussion with Love is a foreshadowing of his coming death.

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns-Free BookNotes Summary

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