Archer's Voice

Bree wakes up to a violent flashback. In the flashback, she sees her father’s dead body and “his lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling” (65). Bree moans “Why?” as she shakes uncontrollably and tries to cope with her grief. She pulls herself together, refusing to spend the day in bed. She heads toward the small beach. Besides the dream about her father, Bree feels content at the beach. She slows down as she rides by Archer’s gate.

Bree spends a pleasant afternoon at the beach. As she is leaving, Bree hears a dog howl out in pain. The sound is coming from Archer’s property and Bree hopes that the animal is alright.

Later in the day, Bree heads to the grocery store. When she checks out, she realizes she is short $2.87. Bree, embarrassed and anxious, rummages through her bags to return something. Archer, who is also in line, pays the $2.87. Everyone in the store seems shocked and stares at their interaction. Bree thanks Archer by name and tells him that she will pay him back. Bree signs to him about the other nosy customers, who were still watching them. Archer does not respond, buys a big bag of dog food, and leaves the store. Bree sees Archer in the parking lot and he signs “Goodnight, Bree.” Bree is overwhelmed by this communication and feels happy.

At age 14, Archer walks Uncle Nate’s property, thinking about how he has not left the bit of land in seven years. He is disassembling traps that Uncle Nate had set around their property. Nathan’s PTSD causes paranoia about intruders, so he assembled many types of traps around his home. Archer is concerned about the animals that get caught in the traps and is taking them apart with his dog, Irena.

As he is working, he hears laughter and voices from the lake nearby. Peering through the trees, Archer spots his crush, Amber Dalton. Amber emerges from the lake in a black bikini and the sight of her gives Archer an erection. He thinks about how he asked his uncle about his changing body and Nathan had just given him pictures of naked girls. Although Archer enjoyed the photos, he was unsure about sex or his body’s reaction to the female form.

As he is admiring Amber, a voice shouts out and Archer recognizes his cousin, Travis, in the group. He teases Archer and humiliates him in front of Amber and the others. Amber seems uncomfortable with Travis berating Archer and seems put off by Travis’s kissing.

Archer recalls the last time he saw Travis and his Aunt Tori after his accident. Travis accused him of cheating at Go-Fish. He thinks about his Aunt Tori and how she had only come that day to “see if I’d say anything about what I’d found out that day. I wouldn’t. It didn’t matter much anyway” (71). When Archer turns to run and falls to the ground, he hears the others laughing at him and keeps running. Archer calls himself “ugly”, “damaged”, and “worthless.” He throws a rock at Irena who yelps but returns to his side. Archer sobs and hugs the dog close.

Uncle Nate finds Archer and sits down next to him. He seems to know what happened at the beach. He takes Archer’s hand and says: “They don’t know who you are, Archer. They have no idea. And they don’t deserve to know. Don’t let their judgement hurt you” (73). These words don’t make sense to Archer, who believes that Uncle Nate is “always on the border of something profound” (74). Archer continues on with his day as the sounds of the other kids fade away.

In the present day, a few days after seeing Archer at the grocery store, Bree sees Ann on her porch after a shift at the diner. She sits and has tea with Ann and Ann remarks on her night out with Melanie and Liza. She calls herself a nosy neighbor but is glad that Bree is having fun. Bree and Ann talk about Travis and Archer. Ann says that Travis will likely be the person to keep the Hale name going, since it is unlikely that Archer will take a wife. Ann tells Bree about Alyssa McRae, Archer’s mother. She says that all three Hale boys (Connor, Marcus, and Nathan) all loved Alyssa. Alyssa liked both Connor and Marcus, but married Marcus when they found out that they were expecting a child. Alyssa miscarried the first pregnancy, but Archer was born several years later. Ann remarks that both Alyssa and Connor had a look of sadness about them after Alyssa married Marcus, as if they knew that Alyssa married the wrong Hale boy. Ann also tells Bree that Marcus was openly cheating on Alyssa. Ann talks about how Connor moved on and married Victoria, had Travis, and became Chief of Police. Ann admits that the town did not do its part to help Archer after the tragedy.

Bree takes her bike toward the beach and stops when she sees that Archer’s gate is open. She peeks inside, and Archer sees her. He signs telling her that he wants to show her something. She follows him behind the house where a dog is resting with her three puppies. Bree gushes over the dogs and realizes that the mother dog had made the howling noises she heard days before. Archer signs and tells her that his uncle believed that all the animals on the property were spies that worked for him. Archer signs that Uncle Nate was eccentric but harmless.

Bree feels the same unspoken attraction between her and Archer. She is happy that Archer is opening up and asks if she can come back to see the puppies. They agree that if the gate is open, this means it is okay for Bree to come and visit.

The next day, Bree visits Archer. They joke together and share small, apprehensive looks of flirtation before Bree returns home.

Bree visits Archer two days later and they take a walk around the shore of the Lake. Bree tells Archer that she asked about him in town before they became friends. She tells him that people in the town do not understand him and think he is odd. She asks why Archer never changes that perception and he signs that it is easier to not let people get to know him. Bree changes the subject and talks about the fact that she used to cook, something that makes her feel uneasy now. Bree heads home feeling like she had an enjoyable day.

The next day, Bree brings sandwiches to Archer’s and they eat them together outside. Archer asks what Bree is doing in Pelion. Bree is going to tell him the same sugar-coated story that she told everyone else about wanting to travel after getting a degree. However, instead, she tells him the truth. She tells Archer that she is running away from her hometown and dealing with the grief caused by her dad’s death. She does not mention that her father was murdered. Archer asks if running away is working. Bree says, mostly, no.

Bree asks Archer if she can come over on Saturday night and give him a cooking lesson. He agrees, making a joke about checking with his social secretary. Bree leaves. On the way out, she realizes that Archer learned an entire language when he learned sign, and that she is the only one who has ever spoken to him in that language.

The next day, when Bree is working at the diner, Travis comes in and asks why Bree never called him back, and she realizes that she never put minutes on her phone. Travis flirts with Bree, but she is very busy with work. Travis asks her out to dinner on Friday night, and Bree, after getting lost in thought about Archer, distractedly agrees. She feels excited about her date with Travis but feels a slight sense of guilt when she thinks of Archer.