After several hours, a soldier arrives to transport Audra to the train station. When Audra gets into the wagon, the guard hands her her father’s bag, and Audra realizes someone must have bribed the guard to help her escape. In the bag, she finds “pops”—small fireworks that explode when they hit a solid surface. Along the way, she throws one inside the wagon to distract the driver. 

She convinces the driver they might be under attack by strategically throwing more on the road nearby. When he runs for safety, Audra flees in the opposite direction. She finds a dress hanging out to dry on someone’s laundry line and creates a commotion among a group of children. When the guard arrives to ask where Audra has gone, she blends in with the group and then runs away.

Audra attempts to walk back to Milda’s under cover of night to stay safe. To motivate herself, she thinks of her friends, the books, and Lukas’s stories of Rue, now fully understanding their symbolism. After a few days of famished, exhausting walking, Audra arrives at Venska, where she finds that Milda’s home was burned beyond repair. She sneaks down to Milda’s library and finds all the shelves empty.