The True Knot's practice of hunting children for steam

The True Knot's practice of hunting children for steam is based on selecting children for their psychic ability, then killing them to obtain what the group consumes. Abra's exceptional power makes her a particularly desirable target—and her knowledge of the group makes her a threat as well as prey.

Selection of Targets

Dan explains that the True Knot is not interested in ordinary children; it seeks children who have the shining. This selectivity makes the group's violence part of a deliberate method of obtaining steam rather than indiscriminate predation. Abra fits the criterion, and Dan stresses that her ability is far greater than his: he compares himself to a flashlight and her to a lighthouse.

The Hunting Method

According to Abra's account, the True Knot subjects its victims to suffering before killing them, believing that this purifies the steam. Lucy struggles to understand the group's intention to consume Abra's steam, but recognizes that the shining is the reason she has been targeted. The method therefore turns a child's psychic gift into the basis for the group's exploitation of that child.

Abra as Target and Threat

Abra is not only unusually powerful; she also knows what the True Knot is. That knowledge distinguishes her from the children the group seeks to prey upon and helps explain the danger surrounding her. The rule thus contains a vulnerability for the hunters: their preferred victims are chosen for a capacity that can also reveal the hunters' nature.