Bridge of Clay

The day after Carey’s win, Matthew goes out to Silver, watching Clay and the Murderer (Michael) work on the bridge. He stalls as long as he can, then approaches. He tells Clay that Carey is dead.

Immediately after winning the State athletics competition, Clay, Matthew, and Tommy go to look over the mule. Clay pays for him and Tommy confirms that his new name is Achilles. They wait until the weekend before they bring him home, waking up at four in the morning so to walk him across town before traffic interrupts them.

The night of her major win, Carey finds Clay in The Surrounds and the two have sex for the first time. The next morning, she left to do trackwork and fell from her horse, dying on impact. When Clay hears the news, he runs into the wilderness and cries. He blames himself for her death.

Carey’s parents initially deny her the opportunity to jockey, but she is persistent and works hard doing undesirable tasks around the stables. She writes to Ennis McAndrew first under a pseudonym, then as herself. He says he will consider taking her as an apprentice if she gets permission from both her parents. She travels to the city on her own to visit McAndrew, and her mother is so furious she slaps Carey. Late at night, Carey’s parents debate whether she should be allowed to race.

Matthew and the Murderer (Michael) find Clay and take him back to the house; the next day, Matthew drives him to the city. Carey’s death receives a slew of news coverage; McAndrew announces his retirement. Clay enters a spiral of self-blame, walking the city streets. After her funeral, he remains in the city, pretending to be fine. He approaches the racing track one day and finds the other jockeys trying to unlock her bike. He immediately knows the combination.

The day they bring Achilles home, they prank Rory with his arrival. Despite having won State, Clay continues to train. In June, Rory is suspended from school yet again, leading Matthew to meet with Claudia again. The two flirt with each other. When Rory is suspended, he finds a passion for work. Matthew has a meeting with the principal and Rory’s teachers that ends in his expulsion. Rory begins working and drinking. One morning, he joins Matthew and Clay on their runs, then starts a fight with Clay. Rory tells Matthew that he has to hurt Clay to help inspire him. This begins the fights on the track.

After fighting for a while, Clay asks Matthew to tape his feet because he wants to try to beat his state record. He beats his time by a whole second.

Clay spends several days walking by the McAndrew and Novac homes. Finally, he finds the courage to knock on the doors and speak to the others who loved Carey. The Novacs welcome him inside and he describes his believed blame in Carey’s death. Carey’s mother comforts him, assuring him that he has no guilt and instead feeling the blame herself. Clay also tries to confess to McAndrew, but McAndrew compliments Clay for his bravery. Clay asks him to continue training and receives a dubious answer. In Carey’s room, her parents find Clay’s gifted engraved lighter, the picture of him at the bridge, and a green clothes peg stolen from Clay’s backyard.

In the past, Carey’s parents agree to let her train under McAndrew. Carey falls easily into the patterns of training to become a jockey. She and Clay start spending time together when she approaches to confirm the presence of a mule in his backyard. Clay takes her to The Surrounds, and she teaches him about horses. She presses him to explain why he always carries a plastic clothes peg, but instead he promises to tell Carey everything but that detail because she must wait to learn about the pegs. When Clay takes Carey to visit Penelope’s grave, Carey brings a list of six different people with the last name Hanley.

Present Clay has nightmares about Carey’s death and starts running again. One night, at Bernborough, he hallucinates that he hears Carey’s voice. He spends the night whispering for Carey and Penelope.

Past Carey and Clay fall in love even though they keep strict rules about physical affection. They call every Henley in the phone book and talk to a man who seems suspicious of their intentions. They travel to his address and meet Patrick, Abbey’s brother, who gives them directions to Abbey’s luxurious apartment. There, Abbey is surprised by how much Clay looks like Michael.

The three slowly warm up to each other as they overcome emotional boundaries. Abbey shows them a framed picture that Michael drew of her hands, asserting her belief that leaving him “was really my best mistake” (451). After they talk for a while, Abbey retrieves The Quarryman and gives it to Clay.

Although Clay assumes that he will never see Abbey after that day, she attends Carey’s funeral and sends Clay a letter providing advice about life and mourning. Clay walks across the city to promise her that he will live his life but flees when his emotions overwhelm him.

As Carey enters her second year of apprenticeship, she is warned that she must cut everything out of her life that is not necessary to racing. Clay shares The Quarryman with her, and they go to races together. As Carey’s time starts to be occupied at the racetrack, Clay starts training. One night, Carey and Clay go to the track, and he tells her the story of the clothes peg, telling her that he did not deserve the time they spent together. She promises that she will never leave him, and they start their weekly ritual of meeting at The Surrounds on Saturday nights.

As present Clay prepares to go back to Silver, Matthew is distraught. Clay asks Tommy and Matthew to help him burn the mattress in The Surrounds, using the engraved lighter. Clay bids farewell to his brothers. As he leaves, Tommy takes Achilles from the back yard and gives the reigns to Clay.