The Troop

An image depicts a woman whose pants are too large. The words advertise a “two-pill solution” (257) that will cause rapid weight loss with no pain or effort.

At the cabin, Shelley eats and lounges. He can feel the worms moving inside him and entering his brain.

In the morning, Newt and Max find Ephraim covered in blood. Newt bandages Ephraim’s wounds. Ephraim begs the other boys to cut the worms out of him. Instead, Newt suggests Ephraim could come back to the cabin and eat some of the laxative mushrooms he gathered for Kent. Ephraim agrees. Newt and Max don’t actually believe Ephraim is sick, but offer him some mushrooms to get him to stop cutting himself or asking them to cut him.