Bridge of Clay

Michael and Penelope meet the day of the piano delivery, and he smiles at her as they complete the moving job. She tries to repay him for his help, and he waits outside as he listens to her play the first few notes. After their initial meeting, they start to see each other around the neighborhood more. Penelope even walks by his house, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but Michael is frightened of heartbreak. After several months, Penelope finally goes to his house and asks him on a date. They talk in his house for hours, culminating in their first kiss.

Clay devotes himself to digging the bridge foundation, getting little sleep and working until his hands blister. He works for five days and decides to visit the city.

Michael and Penelope begin to date. She plays piano for him, and he brings her daisies. They date for a month and a half before Michael tells her about Abbey and his fear of love. However, he hides his artistic talents. Even as he confesses his fears, it becomes clear that his love for Penelope is inevitable and defies logic.

Clay takes the overnight train to the city, then walks around until he makes his way to Penelope’s grave. He lays down on the ground in front of her gravestone and cries. Matthew notes that, if he had known what he knew now, he would have invited Clay home.

Michael and Penelope continue to date for the next year and seven months. Penelope is disturbed by the way Michael sometimes grows reflective and unresponsive, until one night he finally shows her his portraits in the garage. She is astonished both by their quality and the emotions they hold. They have sex on the floor of the garage, talking about all their emotions and their futures. Exactly one year later, he asks her to marry him by painting “PENELOPE LESCIUSZKO PLEASE MARRY ME” on the keys of her piano. 

Back at the Murderer’s (Michael’s) property, the Murderer is impressed and concerned by the amount of progress Clay has made, especially after seeing the blisters on his hands. Clay took the train back to Silver without stopping by Archer Street, too afraid to face his brothers. The Murderer compliments Clay, but inadvertently uses the same phrasing Rory did the last time they fought on the track. Clay flees to his room.

While preparing for the wedding, Michael wonders what to do with the Abbey paintings. Although Penelope is initially supportive, she starts to feel jealousy and is glad when they are sold. The morning before their wedding, Penelope turns onto the wrong side of the road and is hit by an oncoming car, breaking her nose on the dashboard. The police drive her home and Michael takes her to the doctor, where her nose is set, and she faints in the lobby. Michael spends the night reading to her from The Iliad. The next day they are married in a small ceremony, during which her nose periodically bleeds.

Nearly a month passes. Clay and the Murderer move dirt and plan their bridge; Clay reads each night and holds his gifts from Carey. He receives a letter from his brothers and from Carey. Henry, Rory, and Tommy all tell Clay to come and visit, expressing how much they miss him in their own ways. Carey’s letter tells of her most recent jockey adventures, including her third-place win in a recent race. She asks him to come home as well.

After their wedding, Penelope and Michael enlist neighbors to help them move the piano into Michael’s apartment, then they move it once again when they buy the house on Archer Street. When viewing the house for the first time, they heard noise from The Surrounds, which was then an active race ground. After a sweet encounter with one of the horses, they decided to buy the house.

Clay tells the Murderer (Michael) that he must go home but plans to return. He spends most of the train ride thinking about the ways Matthew will hurt him. In the city, he calls Henry and warns him of his arrival before taking a bus to a nearby street and walking the rest of the way home. He stands on the lawn and yells for Matthew. Rory, Matthew, and Tommy emerge from the house, but Matthew blocks them from approaching Clay. Matthew beats Clay brutally, wordlessly expressing his betrayal. Rory calls for the fight to end and Carey arrives, worried. Rory carries Clay inside, teasing him as he does so.

Penelope is accepted into teaching school, wanting to teach English as a second language. Michael’s mother dies and after her funeral, he buries her typewriter in the back yard beside the skeletons of Moon and the snake she killed. Penelope graduates from her teaching courses and is sent to the toughest school in the city. She wins over the kids and is offered a full-time position; she grows a community of students who love her and take care of her. After four years of teaching, she becomes pregnant with Matthew, and the rest of the boys follow.