When Two Feathers Fell From the Sky

Clive invites Helen to a party hosted by the Shacklefords in honor of an Italian artist. Two gets her cast replaced with a smaller, lighter version. At the dormitory, Two spots flakes of tobacco on the floor and realizes someone has stolen from her tobacco pouch. She visits the hippopotamus enclosure where Dinah has been buried. Two notices an electric pole and wonders if Dinah was electrocuted in her pond. Shelton promises to investigate. On her way home, Two hustles patrons who challenge her to a sharp-shooting competition.

Clive’s friend invites him to a dinner and dance at the nearby Oriental Golf Club, and Clive brings Helen as his date. Clive feels reluctant to join fast dances but enjoys slow dancing with Helen. Afterward, the couple share a passionate kiss in a dark part of the park. Helen is so starved for physical affection that she climaxes without Clive touching her below the waist. Clive worries that she will be repulsed by the scars on his body and tries to stop the encounter. Helen performs fellatio on him, and the two share another passionate kiss.

Two shares her theory about Dinah’s electrocution with Helen, who agrees to investigate in the hopes of seeing Clive. At the enclosure, Two determines it would be difficult but not impossible to electrocute the water. Back at the dormitory, Clive politely dismisses the theory. He introduces a reporter, Edgar Maxwell, who asks to interview Two. Although Edgar’s newspaper, the Banner, is the main rival of Shackleford’s son-in-law’s paper, Two agrees to speak with him. Little Elk, who has heard Two’s theory, decides that Dinah’s murderer must be Jack, and resolves to kill him.

Edgar writes a flattering article and Two’s confidence returns. Crawford reports success with Bonita and her family. Two tries to visit Tom Noddy but his exhibit is crowded, so she sits with the buffalo instead. Little Elk leaves Two only to steal cigarettes from the Golf Club, causing havoc among members. Edgar returns to visit Two, enraging Little Elk, who clocks Edgar’s romantic interest in Two. He smokes stolen tobacco and then screams. The group hears Little Elk’s cry, and Clive and Two see him. Two and Little Elk watch each other until Two falls asleep.

Jack sneaks into Glendale Park and enters the bear’s enclosure. He connects an electrical box to the bear’s pool with copper wire, then lures Tom Noddy in with peanuts, killing him instantly. Little Elk hears the other bears howling and sprints to the enclosure. He kills Jack by stabbing him in the throat and chest with a sharpened deer antler. Little Elk howls with the bears and smokes Jack’s tobacco to regain his strength. He pulls Jack’s body into the woods and removes his scalp, which he brings to the bears as a trophy.

Security guards question Two, as the only Indigenous woman working in Glendale Park, about the scalping of Jack. Infuriated at the accusation, Clive and Helen rush to Two’s defense. The park’s security reveal that Jack’s body has not been found. At Longview, Clive tells Mrs. Shackleford that he believes Jack was killed by the ghost he saw at Glendale the previous night. She affirms his theory and encourages him to quietly dispose of the body if it is found, saying a ghost story will be bad for business.

Crawford searches for Jack’s body in the caves below the bear’s enclosure. He enters through the tunnel used to rescue Two and feels relieved to see that Ocher’s body is no longer in the cave. As he exits the caves at the bear’s enclosure, he finds Jack’s body and his bag, which contains the copper wire used to electrocute the animals. He returns to Glendale excited to share his discovery but is stopped by Clive, who subtly instructs him to stay quiet and meet him in the barn.

Clive meets Two at the buffalo enclosure and shares his theory that Little Elk killed Jack to protect Two and the animals at Glendale. Two affirms her belief in the spirit world but says no one else will believe them. She agrees that they must hide the body. When Clive and Two share their thoughts with Crawford, he is horrified to think of active ghosts at Glendale, but ultimately agrees. The group struggles to think of a place to hide the body until Two has an idea.

Clive and Crawford move Jack’s body from its hidden spot near the bear enclosure to the new turtle enclosure, where they meet Two. Clive tells Crawford to leave, acknowledging that he faces harsher punishment as a Black man if he’s caught. Two and Clive put Crawford’s body into the grave at the back of the turtle enclosure. They leave the grave open so that the turtles can access and eat Jack’s body. Clive reminds Two that the inaugural turtle race is in two days.

The next day, Clive brings hawks near the turtle enclosure to keep away any buzzards who may smell Jack’s corpse. Two collects the herbs necessary to smudge her room, then searches Glendale for Little Elk. She visits the bears first, hoping their kinship ties with the Cherokee will draw him to them. When she doesn’t find him, she goes to Adam the buffalo. Two wonders if collecting the scalp released him from his ties to the human world. When Adam approaches, she tells him about Jack’s death.

On Saturday, Two discusses the rules of turtle racing with Clive and Helen. Turtles run toward shade, so the course is constructed in a sunny spot. Two volunteers to help set up the track and judge the race. When Edgar arrives, Two feels surprised by how excited she is to see him. He invites her to dinner and a movie, and they end the date with a kiss. Alone in her dormitory, Two feels hopeful for the first time since her fall.

The inaugural turtle race is a success. Edgar compliments Two’s work and calls Glendale the heartbeat of Nashville, remarking cryptically that the people of the city have lived and died there for years. He asks Two about rumors that a scalp was found, and Two claims it was fur cut off Tom Noddy. Edgar accepts her explanation and asks her on a date. Two accepts.