Summary
More ducks fly by. The Greggs shoot at them and miss. Then the ducks circle back and the Greggs shoot at them once again. They miss again. Mr Gregg gets frustrated and says it's getting dark and that they need to go home. They gather their things and take the ducks they've killed. They begin walking home but the four ducks circle back once more.
Mr Gregg yells at these ducks and tells them to go away, but they seem to ignore him. He shoots at them but can't hit them. Later that night, Mr Gregg goes out to collect firewood and he hears the cry of a duck outside. He looks up and sees ducks flying around the house. He gets distracted from finding the firewood and decides it is time to go to bed.
Mr Gregg wakes up the following day and tries to pull his hand out from under the covers. He is unable to. He sits up and discovers that he has wings. Mrs Gregg sees this and is shocked. They also see that he has become quite small. Mrs Gregg is very distraught.
Mrs Gregg also leaps out of bed, only to discover that she too has become quite small and has also sprouted wings. She attempts to look in the mirror but is too short to see herself. She bursts into tears. They say that witches must have done this to them.
William and Philip come into the room, saying that the same transformation has happened to them. They also have wings and are even smaller. They tell their mother that they can fly and proceed to go out the window. She demands that they get back inside right away. Mr and Mrs Gregg go and look out the window. They see the boys flying in the air.
Mrs Gregg asks if Mr Gregg thinks they are able to fly. He says that they probably should be able to. They flap their wings and are suddenly able to fly. Mrs Gregg is nervous at first but Mr Gregg helps her. The whole family flies around together. William says that this is an incredibly exciting thing to be doing.
Mr Gregg asks Mrs Gregg if her wings are getting tired. She says that they are not. Philip says he sees someone walking in their garden. Suddenly they see four giant, human-sized ducks walking around. They have long arms, like people, instead of wings. They walk in a line, with their beaks high in the air.
Analysis
Violence is a major theme in this part of the book. Here, the narrator depicts the bloodshed caused by the Greggs' hunting trip. They kill sixteen ducks and loudly enjoy the shooting. Their guns make a loud, harsh noise and they seem to take pleasure in the act of shooting for no other reason than the sport of it. In showing the disturbing brutality of the Greggs' hunting, the narrator is able to demonstrate what she finds so upsetting about it. In this way, the book shows how much senseless violence is involved in hunting and how much harm it does to the natural world. This is only underscored in the pages that follow, as the Greggs see the aftermath of what they have done on this particular trip.
Empathy is another important theme in this section of the book. The Greggs continue to be followed by a strange group of four geese. They attempt to shoot them and fail. They then try to scare them off and fail once again. These ducks follow them home and circle their house all night, loudly calling in the night sky. Mr Gregg is so put off by this experience that he decides against trying to gather firewood for that night. This scene highlights the lingering feeling that the ducks are trying to instill in the Greggs. They do not know it yet, but the ducks are trying to make them feel guilt and shame for what they have done. It is the beginning of the Greggs developing a sense of empathy for the ducks. Here, the story shows how empathy hinges on seeing animals as more than just targets for sport, and appreciating their emotional complexity.
Power is also a key theme in these pages. The Greggs are suddenly faced with a complete loss of their power. They are small and no longer have hands. At the same time, the ducks have now become large and have human arms. They enter the Greggs' garden and appear to be taking over their home. Power plays a vital role in showing the Greggs what they have failed to previously understand. By reducing their physical size and putting them at the mercy of the human-sized ducks, the narrator has shown them what it is to live with the same level of helplessness as the ducks. As the story progresses, the Greggs find themselves in increasingly less desirable positions, revealing to them how they have been treating the ducks and other animals.
Magic is another theme at work in this part of the book. The narrator's magic finger has surprising consequences for everyone in the story. The ducks suddenly become large and powerful, while the Greggs are essentially transformed into ducks. The narrator isn't even aware of this initially: she tells the reader she only learned the details of their harrowing experience the following day, after they had turned back. This shows how she wasn't really in control of her powers, but was able to bring about this change regardless. The narrator's magical powers are complicated in that they do have the effect that she wanted, teaching the Greggs a lesson, but bring this about through surprising means.
This part of the book explores the main dramatic conflict, as the Greggs are transformed into the very animal they were just hunting. They are faced with a sudden loss of power which will ultimately result in the reexamination of their behavior. The narrator's magic makes them see just how harmful the violence they have been enacting has been to the natural world around them.
