Then She Was Gone

In the morning, Ellie pulls a chair up to the only window in the basement and realizes that her situation is dire. No one will be able to see her down in the basement. When Noelle enters the room, Ellie tries to hit her with the chair and overpower her, but Noelle is stronger than she looks and zip-ties Ellie’s ankles together. Noelle promises to bring Ellie treats if she behaves, and Ellie gets the impression Noelle does not intend to keep her there forever. 

Noelle leaves on an errand to buy tampons and deodorant for Ellie, and while she’s gone, Ellie pounds on the tiny window and the basement walls until her hands are bruised. When Noelle returns, she has two pet hamsters for Ellie. Ellie is confused because she told Noelle during one of their tutoring sessions that she never wanted hamsters, yet Noelle thinks she did. Noelle also tells her that an article in the newspaper says she ran away, and Ellie realizes with dismay that no one saw her walking with Noelle on Stroud Green Road.

Noelle reflects on the bits of planning that went in to kidnapping Ellie, such as buying the elderflower juice and getting the drug from her doctor. She thinks giving Ellie the hamsters was a way to give her a purpose, and that Ellie adored them, caring for each one, “Even when there were cages full of them” (242). In Noelle’s mind, Ellie eventually accepted her fate and felt safe with Noelle.

Ellie loses track of what day it is and how long she’s been in Noelle’s basement. Noelle continues to bring her gifts and treats, but she never tells her why she’s there or how long she’ll be there. One night, she wakes to a drunken and dressed up Noelle, standing in the basement after being with her boyfriend. She promises to bring Ellie some books and movies. The next day, Noelle brings her dinner, and while she eats, Ellie blacks out. It’s morning when she wakes up, and Ellie knows something happened, but doesn’t know what. 

As the weather gets cooler, Ellie imagines it must be September or October, but Noelle won’t tell her what month or day it is. One day, Ellie feels movement in her abdomen, like, “Bubbles popping inside her stomach.” (250).

Ellie is pregnant, which Noelle reveals, was her plan all along. Noelle fakes a pregnancy to Floyd and tells him the placenta is low, so the doctor said they couldn’t have sex. Noelle thought a pregnancy would make Floyd draw closer to her, but it doesn’t. She can see that he doesn’t really care about having a baby, and all she can hope for is that when the baby comes, it will link them together forever. 

Noelle tells Ellie that her pregnancy is a miracle and seems excited over the baby, buying pregnancy books and baby clothes. One day, Noelle’s mood changes, and she loses interest in the baby. Ellie learns to read Noelle’s moods and stay out of her way. She finds herself caught between wanting to kill Noelle and wanting to win Noelle’s approval. She knows that the time alone in Noelle’s basement is taking its toll on her mind, and fights to hold on to her sanity.

Floyd breaks up with Noelle when she is supposedly 8 months pregnant, and Noelle hides her anger from him. She holds out hope that when the baby is born, Floyd will change his mind about her and want to get back together. 

Noelle helps Ellie deliver the baby in her basement, and it’s a little girl that Ellie names Poppy. Poppy is healthy, but Ellie gets an infection, a fever, and eventually stops eating. Noelle is annoyed when Ellie does nothing but call for her mother, so when the baby is five months old, Noelle takes her and stops going down to the basement.

Laurel gets Noelle’s parents’ phone number from Joshua and finds out that Noelle was supposed to be coming home to Ireland with Poppy when she disappeared. Noelle’s mother suspects that Noelle is probably dead and tells Laurel that Noelle didn’t really care about her family. Over the years, after countless unreturned messages and unrecognized gestures, her family stopped caring about her, too. 

When Poppy is six months old, Noelle takes her to visit Floyd, hoping that at the sight of her, he will want to renew their relationship. The meeting goes perfectly. Floyd falls in love with beautiful Poppy and her sweet smiles, and Noelle looks her best. She leaves feeling like there’s a chance he will want to get back together again. 

Bonny, Paul’s partner, invites the whole family, including Laurel, Floyd, and Poppy, to her house for Christmas Eve, coming up in a week. Laurel asks Floyd about the day Noelle left Poppy on his doorstep, and he says he thinks it was for the best; Poppy was happy without her mom. Later, Poppy invites Laurel into her room to show her the mug she got her dad for Christmas, and Laurel notices a pair of candlesticks in her room—the same candlesticks that were stolen from Laurel’s house four years after Ellie disappeared.

Ellie is so weak from the infection and from not eating that she can’t get out of bed. She can hear Poppy crying upstairs and longs to go to her, but she has no strength and no “will to live” (281). The basement is horrible—her sheets are dirty, the toilet is blocked, and the hamsters are dead in their cages. In the midst of remembering snippets of her life—her family, Theo, and Poppy—Ellie dies.