The group enters the city without any guards calling out an alarm or recognizing Marra. As they seek lodgings for the night, Agnes suggests procuring a baby animal she can bless and use in a way like the moth from the goblin market. Fenris finds a chicken seller, and Agnes and the dust-wife mutter over the chicks until Agnes makes the blessing stick.

The group then follows the chick through the city until they find a mostly deserted ally. The only woman in the street asks if they are heading to Miss Margaret’s. They say they are, and the woman warns them not to look at him. The group finds Miss Margaret at the end of the alley. She has two rooms to lend. Then they see “him,” a wooden puppet sitting on Margaret’s shoulder, its hands gripping a black cord pulled around her throat. Agnes wonders aloud if it is a curse-child. In response, the puppet yanks the cord tight. Agnes rushes to apologize, only to faint from the exertion of blessing the chick.

The group takes Agnes up to a room. Marra asks the dust-wife about the curse-child.