The Shack

Chapter 18

· Mack is now in the hospital recovering from his injuries. (p.239)

· Mack awoke and his entire body was in complete pain. (p. 240)

· Mack vaguely remembered the drive to the shack, and images of Papa, Jesus, Missy playing by the lake, Sophia in the cave, and the light and color of the festival in the meadow came back to him like shards of broken glass. (p.240)

· Willie shows up and lets Mack have it for wrecking his jeep and he tries to convince Mack to tell Nan that he tried to stop him from going to the shack. (p. 241)

· Mack’s memory begins to come back when Willie asks Mack if God was really at the shack. (p.241)

“That’s when the penny dropped and the disjointed story began to crystallize in Mack’s mind. Everything suddenly made sense as his mind began connecting the dots and filling in the details – the note, the jeep, the gun, the trip to the shack, and every facet of that glorious weekend.”

· Willie asks again if God really showed up. (p. 242)

“Willie, he was there! Oh, was he there! Wait till I tell you. You’ll never believe it. Man, I’m not sure I do either. Oh, yeah, he told me to tell you something.” “What? Me?”…”So, what did he say?” “He said, “Tell Willie that I’m especially fond of him.”

· Nan visits Mack and he begins to tell her all about what happened to him. (p.243)

· Mack finds time alone with Kate to tell her that Missy’s death is not her fault. (p.244)

“Kate, I want you to know I love you with all my heart.” “I love you to daddy.”…”I want to talk to you about missy.”…”Why?”…”Katie, it wasn’t your fault.”…”What’s not my fault?”…”That we lost Missy. Honey, no one blames you for what happened.”…”But if I hadn’t of been careless in the canoe, you wouldn’t have had to…” “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, honey, it’s not your fault.” “But I’ve always thought it was my fault. And I thought that you and mom blamed me, and I didn’t mean…” “None of us meant for this to happen, Kate. It just happened and we’ll learn to live through it. But we’ll learn together. Okay?” – Kate not knowing what to say, ran out of the room in tears.

· The next time Mack woke up, Kate was lying next to him asleep. (p. 245)

· Nan came into the room and whispered to Mack…”I believe you.” (p.245)

· Mack began to recover rapidly over the next few weeks. (p.245)

· Mack and Nan called the deputy in Joseph, Tommy Dalton, to take a hike with them back beyond the shack to find Missy’s body.

· Willie drives Mack and Nan to Joseph to meet up with Tommy and head to the shack. (p.246)

· Mack hikes them past the shack and begins to point out all the red arcs along the way.

· Mack shows Tommy the opening of the cave where Missy’s body lays.

· Tommy convinces Mack that they should notify the forensics specialists, so they head back to Joseph and Mack tells Tommy his story again.

· The next day, experts arrive and Missy’s body is discovered.

· Weeks later, there was enough evidence to track down and arrest the Lady Bug Killer.

· With all he evidence collected, authorities were then able to locate and recover the bodies of the other little girls he had murdered.