The Croning - Chapter Summaries

The chapter opens with a retelling of the Miller's daughter and the Dwarf, setting the stage for a darker, more complex narrative. The Spy, the brother of the Queen and son of the Miller, embarks on a perilous mission to find the Dwarf who helped his sister spin straw into gold. The Queen, now married to the Crown Prince and expecting a child, is under threat as the Dwarf demands the newborn as payment for his magical assistance.

The Spy travels to the Western Mountains, enduring numerous hardships and gathering information about the Dwarf. He learns that the Dwarf is associated with dark and ancient practices, and is believed to be a member of a powerful family in the mountains. Along his journey, the Spy encounters a village with peculiar customs and a pagan temple dedicated to a deity known as Old Leech. The temple is a place of dark rituals, and the Spy meets a mysterious woman who warns him of the dangers that lie ahead.

The Spy and a peddler from the capital venture to Count Mock’s castle, where they witness a disturbing ritual involving the Dwarf and the sacrifice of the woman from the temple. The Spy, horrified by the events, flees the castle with the peddler. Back in the village, the Spy reveals his true identity and purpose to the peddler, who shares a story about a previous encounter with the Dwarf. The peddler provides the Spy with the Dwarf’s name, but the Spy disappears in the night, leaving the peddler to deliver the message to the Queen.

The chapter opens with Donald Miller and his wife Michelle enjoying a luxurious vacation in Mexico City in 1958. The couple indulges in the opulence of their hotel, exploring the city and rekindling their passion. However, their idyll is disrupted when Michelle receives a call from Professor Bjorn Trent, inviting her to a dig at nearby ruins. Michelle leaves abruptly, and Don becomes increasingly worried when she doesn't return for two days.

Desperate and fearing the worst, Don seeks help from the university, only to encounter bureaucratic indifference and a suspicious campus security chief, Señor Montoya. Montoya reluctantly directs Don to two retired policemen, Ramirez and Kinder, who agree to help for a fee. The trio ventures into a dangerous and seedy part of the city, culminating in a violent and surreal encounter at a cantina called Casa del Diablo, where Don is attacked by a dog and forced to consume alcohol.

Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, Don is taken to a remote cave by Ramirez, Kinder, and two other men, Clubbo and Günter. The men perform a bizarre ritual, and Don experiences a terrifying and hallucinatory sequence of events, including the apparent disappearance of his captors. He is eventually found by a family on a rural road, severely injured and traumatized. Michelle arrives with the police and explains that she had been at a lecture, leading to a misunderstanding.

The chapter opens in Wenatchee, 1980, where an entomologist dies in a farmhouse, his lips pressed to Agent Crane’s ear. Agent Crane steps away from the body, noting the still-warm revolver near the corpse’s temple. The scene is eerie and unsettling, with the wind rattling the windows and the house creaking ominously. Agent Barton, leaning against the door jam, comments on the melodrama of the situation and asks what the entomologist said before dying.

Agent Crane, visibly distressed, wipes his hands and earlobe with a handkerchief. The room is filled with antiques and old family photographs, creating a sense of spectral presence. The agents discuss the entomologist’s last words, which Crane could barely understand, and the possibility that the entomologist might have killed someone else if they had arrived earlier. Agent Barton calls in the incident to Section and their field supervisor, preparing for the next steps in the investigation. The atmosphere is tense, and the agents feel a sense of unease and dread.

After the call, the agents decide to get coffee and leave the farmhouse. On the drive, they reflect on the entomologist’s cryptic final words and the possibility that their field supervisor knew more than she let on. Agent Crane, particularly shaken, feels a growing sense of dread and recalls the entomologist’s slurred, mumbled message. They stop at a truck stop for dinner and check into a motel, where Crane spends the night reviewing case files and geological surveys. As he tries to sleep, he is haunted by the entomologist’s final words, 'They Who Wait love you, Tommy,' which trigger a series of night terrors and a feeling of impending doom.

Autumn approaches, and Donald Miller, an elderly geologist, feels a growing sense of disquiet that he cannot explain. Despite his wife Michelle's reassurances, the feeling persists. The couple celebrates their upcoming sixtieth anniversary with a dinner at the Inn of Old Wales, a traditional Welsh pub in a refurbished Spanish mission. The evening is pleasant, but Don notices some suspicious activity in the parking lot, which adds to his unease.

The next day, Don walks Thule, his black Labrador, around the neighborhood, reflecting on the history of the area and his own past. He encounters a group of laborers at Schneider’s Tree Farm who seem unusually menacing, further fueling his anxiety. Later, his children, Kurt and Holly, arrive with their respective partners, Kaiwin and Linda. The family dynamics are strained, with Don and Michelle trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy despite the underlying tensions.

As the family settles in, Don reflects on his past, including his relationship with his grandfather, Luther Angstrom Miller, a retired army captain. He visits Luther’s grave, reminiscing about the summer of 1945, a pivotal year in his life marked by family tragedies and his grandfather’s influence. The chapter ends with Don feeling a deep connection to his roots and a growing sense of foreboding about the future.

The chapter opens with the family gathering for a séance-like evening, prompted by Argyle’s suggestion to pass the time with ghost stories. Kurt, under pressure from the family, recounts a harrowing experience from his high school days in San Francisco, where he worked at a department store and encountered a terrifying apparition known as 'The Witch.' This entity was described as a tall, spindly, and chalk-white figure, often seen lurking in the shadows of the store, causing fear and unrest among the employees.

Kurt’s story is filled with personal and emotional details, including his friendship with Frankie, a troubled youth who faced abuse at home and turned to violence and alcohol. The presence of the Witch escalated Kurt’s fear and led to a night of attempted exorcism with Nelly and her Goth friends, Samantha and Cassie. The ritual resulted in a series of inexplicable and terrifying events, including flickering lights, strange laughter, and the appearance of the Witch. Kurt’s recounting leaves the family unsettled, and the night ends with a series of eerie occurrences, including a storm and strange noises.

The next morning, the family discovers that Kurt had sleepwalked to the greenhouse during the night, where he was bitten by a rat. This incident, coupled with the open cellar door, adds to the growing sense of unease in the house. Don, feeling increasingly anxious, prepares to spend several weeks alone while Michelle and the others are away, haunted by his own vivid and troubling dreams.

Don Miller, an elderly geologist, embarks on a solo rafting trip along the Yukon River, driven by a list of twelve tasks his grandfather once commanded him to complete. The trip is fraught with hallucinations and a growing sense of unease, exacerbated by his consumption of alcohol and peyote. He eventually reaches Ruby, an Athabascan village, where he receives a message from his wife Michelle informing him of Professor Louis Plimpton's death, prompting his return to Olympia.

Back in Olympia, Don and Michelle attend Plimpton's funeral, where Don encounters two mysterious men who claim to be from the National Security Agency. These men suggest that Plimpton's death was not a heart attack but a suicide, and that Michelle has connections to a shadowy network involving the Wolvertons, Rourkes, and Mocks. The men imply that Michelle is involved in dangerous and possibly supernatural activities, which deeply unsettles Don.

At the Wolverton Mansion, Don continues to experience strange occurrences and encounters with unsettling individuals, including a young boy named Bronson Ford who speaks cryptically about the 'Children of Old Leech.' Don is eventually confronted by the two NSA agents again, who attempt to kidnap him. He escapes and finds Michelle, who seems distant and secretive, asking him to share a secret only they know. The chapter ends with Don feeling increasingly paranoid and questioning the nature of his relationship with Michelle and the events unfolding around him.

Don Miller, feeling the weight of solitude after Michelle departs, invites friends over for a barbeque to alleviate his loneliness. The conversation turns to Michelle’s genealogical research, which Don dismisses as over his head, but Argyle suggests it’s quite intricate. Argyle also advises Don to sell the house, arguing it’s more of a museum than a home, and that it’s isolating for both Don and Michelle.

Later that evening, Don reflects on Argyle’s advice and decides to tackle the house’s clutter, starting with the attic. He calls Kurt to help, and they begin the arduous task of sorting through old items. During their work, they uncover a series of unsettling photographs and a mysterious book titled 'Morderor de Calginis,' which Don recognizes from a past encounter but cannot fully recall. The book and the photographs spark a growing sense of unease in Don, who begins to suspect a deeper connection between the house and the strange occurrences he has experienced.

On Monday, Labor Day, Don and Kurt continue their work, but Kurt suggests they take a break to go camping, reigniting Don’s childhood memories and dreams. Don, despite his reservations, agrees to the camping trip, partly to avoid the house’s eerie atmosphere and partly to appease Kurt. That night, Don explores Michelle’s study, finding a vast collection of books and documents related to the Mock family’s history, which includes references to ancient Slavic cults and pagan practices. The discovery deepens Don’s curiosity and anxiety, especially when he finds a disturbing illustration of a ritual called 'The Croning.'

The chapter opens with Don Miller and his friends, Argyle, Kurt, and Hank, embarking on a camping trip in the woods behind Don's house. The trip is delayed due to disorganization and logistical issues, but they eventually set up camp near a creek. Don reflects on the house's history and the strange occurrences he has experienced, which are further exacerbated by Kurt's recent revelations about his wife Winnie and Michelle's potential involvement in mysterious activities.

During the night, Kurt confides in Don about his concerns regarding Winnie's behavior and her possible collusion with Michelle. Kurt mentions a recurring dream where he sees Michelle and Winnie in a dark, ritualistic setting, which deepens Don's unease. The next morning, the fog is heavy, and the group splits up to explore the area. Don and Hank discover a large, ominous boulder and a dolmen, an ancient tomb-like structure, which Don recognizes from a photograph he found in the attic.

Don becomes increasingly agitated and fearful, especially when Hank disappears into the dolmen and fails to return. Don's attempts to contact Kurt and Argyle are unsuccessful, and he is left alone in the darkening forest. His fear escalates to terror, and he runs blindly through the woods, eventually collapsing under a fir tree. Thule, his dog, finds him, and they huddle together, waiting for rescue or the dawn.

Don Miller, an elderly geologist, embarks on a company assignment to investigate a mysterious site in the Olympic Peninsula. The mission follows a series of unsettling events, including a bizarre encounter with alleged NSA agents and the disappearance of a physicist named Noonan. Upon arrival, Don is met by a surveyor named Carl Ordbecker, who informs him about a strange sinkhole and a cave system that defy explanation.

Don decides to investigate the site further and climbs a vertical ladder to a ranger station, where he unexpectedly encounters Barry Rourke, a high-ranking executive at AstraCorp. Rourke reveals that he belongs to a cult that worships an ancient, malevolent entity known as Old Leech. Rourke claims that Don’s wife Michelle is part of a lineage that serves the cult and that Don himself is being preserved for a sinister purpose. Rourke’s revelation is corroborated by Connor Wolverton, another cult member, who confirms that Michelle has either joined the cult or been destroyed.

Don is led to a cave where he confronts the horrifying reality of the cult’s practices, including the sacrifice of children and the transformation of humans into Dark Ones. Despite the overwhelming fear and disgust, Don manages to resist the cult’s advances and strikes Rourke, sending him through the portal. Ramirez, a transformed cult member, captures Don and throws him into a pit, leaving him to an uncertain fate.

Don Miller, after a harrowing escape from the forest, returns to his house, only to find it eerily quiet and the cellar door ajar. Kurt, his son, arrives injured and frantic, warning Don about the dangers lurking in the woods and the cellar. Kurt reveals that Argyle has been captured by monstrous entities, and he urges Don to flee, but Don insists on staying to confront Michelle and the supernatural threats.

In the cellar, Don encounters Bronson Ford, a malevolent being who reveals himself as a powerful entity from the Dark. Ford taunts Don about the impending doom of humanity and offers him a Faustian bargain: in exchange for sparing Michelle and Kurt, Don must surrender his unborn grandson to the Dark Ones. Overwhelmed by the horror of the proposition, Don collapses, unable to make the choice. The chapter delves into Don’s deteriorating mental state as he lies in a hospital bed, partially aware of his surroundings and the impending doom.

The chapter concludes with a poignant scene where Don, now in a hospital, is visited by his family. Michelle, looking youthful and radiant, takes their grandchild into the shadows, whispering her gratitude. Don is paralyzed with horror, unable to speak or act, as he realizes the terrible fate that awaits the child. The chapter underscores the themes of sacrifice, the corruption of power, and the relentless pursuit of the Dark Ones.