Starling House

Opal awakes to find Arthur gone and sees the mist rising outside. He left his sword with her, along with a will that leaves everything to her, including the deed to Starling House. She realizes that Arthur has gone to the Underland and does not intend to return. When she asks the house what to do, the sun shines on the sword. She cuts her hand with the sword, dripping her blood onto the house. She feels a bond forged between her and the building as she officially becomes the Warden.

Arthur senses the moment when Opal becomes the new Warden and asks the house to do better for her than it did for him. However, he is still determined to go to the Underland alone.

Opal feels the beasts coming into the house and begins to head down to the basement. She realizes that Arthur has opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and locked it behind him, but she also knows that because the beasts are still above ground, the door can be opened for them again. She senses the presence of Elizabeth and others who are coming up the drive and are surrounded by the beasts. She debates whether or not to help Elizabeth. Just as she is about to swing her sword at a beast, she remembers the dedication of The Underland in which Eleanor told her readers to befriend the beasts. (Opal had been trying to convince Arthur to do this, and her urging has convinced him to go to the Underland himself.) She now recognizes that she must do the same if she wants to save herself and others. Thinking back to the various stories of Starling House, particularly that of Nathaniel Boone, Opal realizes that the Gravely mines conceal a second entrance into Underland. However, to reach Gravely land and find the other entrance, Opal must jump into Mud River: something she has not done since the accident that killed her mother.

Opal makes her way into the Gravely mine, where Nathaniel first saw the crack in the earth that Eleanor called the Underland. Inside, she sees a river and catches a glimpse of both Arthur and Eleanor Starling. She recognizes that she must drink the water from the river in order to enter the Underland, and she does so. Once there, she finds Arthur; he is standing in front of Starling House with the sword in his hand, just like she did the first time she saw a beast. Gazing at the house, they see a young girl in the window, and Opal recognizes her as both Nora Lee and Eleanor Starling.

Once again, Arthur tells Opal to go. She runs to the house with his promise that he will survive his upcoming fight with the beasts. Opal goes up to the attic, where she finds Eleanor as a little girl with a beast sitting behind her. Speaking with an adult voice, the child Eleanor tells Opal that the waters of the river give form to the monsters she created. Opal asks why she made the monsters and promises to listen to Eleanor’s story.

Eleanor tells the story of her mother, another Eleanor, who married a Gravely. However, he left her as soon as her vast wealth was put in his name. He then used the money to fund the Gravely company with his two brothers, and young Eleanor (the future author of The Underland) was eventually sent to live with them. Her father and uncles were cruel to her, and she refused to mourn her father when he drowned. This lack of grief led others to believe that she killed him herself. All the money that used to be her mother's was then transferred to Eleanor, who was a few days away from reaching the age at which she would legally be allowed to inherit it. To prevent this from happening, her uncle devised a scheme to marry her and list her name in the papers as something other than Gravely. Everyone in town willfully adopted his false version of the story. On her wedding night, after hearing Nathaniel’s story, she ran to the mine, and her uncle followed. There she drank the river water, and the monsters she dreamed of become real. She built Starling House above the crack in the earth, and one day, the final Gravely brother came to her house to claim her land and threaten her safety. That night, she wrote a note to warn Nathaniel, knowing that he was the only one who did not deserve what would happen when she released the beasts in Eden. She then went to drink the waters of the river once again, thinking of the Underland as her home instead of remaining at Starling House. 

Back in the present moment, Eleanor tries to convince Opal to stay with her, observing that she too has been shunned by everyone in her community. Expecting Opal to revel in the same anger that she once felt, Eleanor tries to convince Opal that she does not need Arthur. However, Opal knows that she wants him and would still be part of a family even without him. Opal tries to convince Eleanor to leave the Underland, but Eleanor refuses to leave until all the Gravelys are gone. Recognizing that the only monsters in Underland are the ones she makes herself, Opal realizes that if she remembers what she wants, she can arrange for it to manifest.

Once Opal allows herself to desire something, the Underland transforms into her room at the Garden of Eden Motel. Attempting to thwart Opal’s efforts to take control, Eleanor sets the motel on fire, and outside, Opal sees the whole town turn their backs on her, including Jasper. However, she knows that the scene is not real. Opal continues to focus on her happiest memories, and Eleanor continues to try to ruin them. The setting abruptly shifts to Starling House, and Opal tells Eleanor that it is no longer her house; instead, it has become the chosen home of many generations of Starlings. When Opal asks Eleanor why she stayed in Eden, Eleanor states that she had nowhere else to go. Opal tells her that they are both Gravelys and emphasizes that the men who originally hurt Eleanor are long dead, and her book, The Underland, is now loved by many. Opal promises to tell Eleanor’s true story, despite how messy it is, but Eleanor is convinced that no one will believe her. Opal tells Eleanor that she deserves better, and Eleanor’s rage wavers as she fears she has already done too much harm to Eden. Regardless of what is happening above, Opal knows that Eleanor must rest, so she sings her to sleep, sending her away from both Starling House and the Underland. 

With Eleanor’s spirit laid to rest, Starling House’s appearance reverts to the version that Opal is familiar with, and Eleanor’s beast now looks like the “hellcat” that Opal brought to Arthur from the motel. However, the ordeal is not yet over, for when she looks outside, she sees that Arthur has also reverted to child form and stands surrounded by the graves of all the people he could not save during his tenure as Warden. Realizing that Arthur is in his own version of Underland, Opal calls his name to pull him out of his dreams. Arthur again tries to tell her to leave, but she explains that the Underland is really just a reflection of their dreams. She takes the sword from his hand and convinces him to focus on good dreams instead of living in his nightmares.

That night, Eden seems to use up the last of its bad luck as the river floods and injures many people. Afterward, the mist rarely rises again. Gravely Power still plans to expand, but Charlotte discovers the will that Don Gravely thought he had destroyed: the one that gives all of the family wealth to Jewell. Yet neither of Jewell’s children can be found, and Arthur has also disappeared, leaving Starling House vacant. The Gravely power plant ends up closing, and Don Gravely’s remaining money is used to fight the lawsuits that Charlotte and Bev bring against him. As Starling House decays and falls into further disrepair, the townspeople believe that a new Starling will show up to claim it, but no one does until suddenly both Arthur and Opal return. The town continues to gossip about the Starlings. The main rumor is that the two are writing a story. When questioned about it, Opal says only that the story is “a true one” (340).