Orleanna remembers her overwhelming grief when Ruth May died, so much so that Orleanna felt that she had to keep moving so that her grief wouldn't catch up with her. After clearing out the house, she took Rachel, Leah, and Adah and walked out of the village. As she remembers that day, it becomes clear that she has been talking to Ruth May. She begs Ruth May for relief from her guilt, saying, "If you are the eyes in the trees, watching as we walk away from Kilanga, how will you make your judgment? Lord knows after thirty years I still crave your forgiveness." She wonders if Ruth May's spirit is still just Ruth May or if she has become part of the larger spirit of Africa.
When Orleanna and her three daughters leave Kilanga in the deluge of rain, they head toward the neighboring town of Bulungu. Their journey is made nearly unbearable by the mosquitoes that are hatching and filling the air, biting and choking the Price women. During the trip, Leah succumbs to malaria and has to be carried to Bulungu on a pallet. Once they reach Bulungu, Orleanna negotiates with Axelroot to fly Rachel out of the Congo and finds a truck driver who agrees to take her and Adah to the embassy in Leopoldville. Orleanna leaves Leah in the care of Anatole, who is also in Bulungu. After Leah recovers enough to travel, she decides to stay with Anatole and marry him, rather than rejoin her mother and sister.
Axelroot takes Rachel to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they live together but don't marry. Thrilled to be back in civilization again, Rachel goes to parties and begins making friends. She eventually grows tired of Axelroot and turns her attention to her friend's husband, who is an attaché to the French ambassador. Her scheme works, and she marries him and moves to Brazzaville, French Congo.
