The Marrow Thieves: On the Road Summary & Analysis

Without RiRi and Minerva, the group is able to move faster. Frenchie thinks that they're without their roots and their reason to make the world better. They head south in the hope of finding the resistance near Espanola. Frenchie feels as though he's now getting to make decisions with Miig and Chi-Boy. He's so worried about the possible consequences of heading south that he can barely sleep. When they get close to Espanola, Miig calls Frenchie to look at some cuts in a tree. He says they're syllabics, the written language. Miig can't read it. Frenchie touches it reverently.

The next day, Rose invites Frenchie to hunt for mushrooms with her and he follows her into the woods. They walk silently for an hour and then Rose stops. She smells water. They choose a direction and then race forward. Frenchie thinks that Rose is impossibly beautiful and that he loves her. Rose breaks through the trees and emits a small scream. Frenchie joins her, afraid, but she points to the small stream with fish in it. Frenchie falls to his knees, feeling like everything is too heavy, and laughs until he cries. Rose steps forward and lets Frenchie pull her into his lap.

Frenchie remembers being with his uncle once when he was a little kid. His uncle told Frenchie to choose a "good" CD, and Frenchie chose one from the middle of the stack. Frenchie's uncle inspected the CD, smiled, and declared it was just what they needed. He lumbered to his feet, inserted it into the stereo, and explained that the album was by Pearl Jam. Frenchie listened to the sound of the drums, guitar, and vocalist, and felt uncomfortable. His uncle asked him what he thought, and Frenchie said that it sounded "like if gray could make noise." Frenchie thinks that that's what he's hearing now, sitting with Rose by water. He wonders how anything can be bad when he loves Rose, and they kiss.