Cloud is arrested over the protest arson, and Tully is sent back to her grandmother

The arrest of Cloud and Tully’s return to her grandmother’s home abruptly end the period in which Tully has been living with Kate Mularkey’s family. The separation is both an immediate consequence of Cloud’s arrest and a personal rupture: Tully has to leave the home where Kate has begun to offer her care, while neither girl has any power to change the decision.

The police arrive

The crisis begins on an ordinary walk. Tully suddenly stops, and Kate notices a police car in the driveway. Tully takes Kate by the hand and hurries across the street and into the house, where Officer Dan Myers is waiting. Her first response is to ask what her mother has done this time, a question that makes Cloud’s repeated trouble with the authorities part of the scene’s history rather than a wholly unexpected development.

Myers explains that Cloud and several other protesters staged a sit-in during a spotted owl protest near Lake Quinault. The action cost Weyerhaeuser a full day of work. The situation became more serious when someone dropped a cigarette in the woods and a fire broke out; firefighters had only just brought it under control. The account joins political protest to a specific environmental danger, but the immediate consequence for Tully is not a debate about the protest. It is the sudden possibility of losing the home and companionship she has found with Kate.

Treatment or return

When Tully asks whether Cloud is going to jail, Myers says that her lawyer is seeking voluntary treatment for drug addiction. If Cloud is fortunate, she will remain in the hospital for a while; he leaves the alternative unfinished. The uncertainty does not reassure Tully. She asks whether anyone has contacted her grandmother, and Myers confirms that her grandmother is expecting her. He offers to help with packing, making clear that the decision has already moved from the status of a possibility to an arrangement.

Kate does not understand what is happening until she sees the blankness in Tully’s eyes and recognizes that the situation is serious. Tully tells her she has to go back to her grandmother’s home. When Kate protests that she cannot leave, Tully answers that she has no choice. The exchange defines the separation: Kate can object and Tully can explain, but neither can keep them together.

The departure

Tully packs a suitcase, locks it, and walks back through the house without speaking. As she and Kate go outside, “American Pie” is playing on the radio. The song becomes attached to the moment for Kate, who wonders whether she will ever hear it again without remembering this goodbye. Its familiar refrain makes the loss feel like a dividing line in their shared life.

In the driveway, the girls cling to each other until Officer Myers gently pulls Tully away. Kate cannot even wave. She remains in place, crying as she watches her best friend leave. The quietness of the farewell contrasts with the urgent police visit: the official decision is carried out, but its emotional cost is expressed in the girls’ embrace and Kate’s inability to move past the goodbye.

What the separation changes

This departure echoes the pattern of instability that shapes Tully’s childhood. Before the police arrive, she has already begun to experience Kate’s family as a place of care. Mrs. Mularkey tells her that Kate has been praying for Cloud to recover from cancer and has set up a small altar in her room. Tully is therefore not leaving an indifferent household: she is being separated from a friend who has tried to care both for her and for her absent, ill mother.

The scene also prepares the meaning of Kate’s later support. When Tully returns after her grandmother’s death, she tells Kate that Gran has died while Kate was away. Kate holds her as Tully breaks down. The earlier forced parting and the later reunion establish a recurring pattern in their friendship: circumstances can remove one girl from the other, but Kate’s physical presence becomes a way for Tully to grieve and regain a sense of connection. The arrest does not end their bond; it makes the cost of separation, and the value of being welcomed back, unmistakable.