Marnie first sees Quivera Baneblaus riding by on a wagon when she is playing by herself, and out of loneliness, she tries to start a conversation. Quivera does not reply, and rides on. When Marnie is at the drugstore picking up powders for her mother, the man at the counter calls Quivera "Quare Beanblossom," and Marnie knows that 'Quare' means 'queer.' Despite this offensive statement, Marnie continues to have one-sided conversations with Quivera because there are no children her age for her to talk to. Then one day, Quivera stops and asks her to climb on. They make small talk until they get to a tree on which there are numerous dead snakes hanging impaled on the branches. Marnie vomits at the sight, but Quivera soothes her, saying that the snakes were killed by butcherbirds. Marnie observes that butcherbirds must be evil for this, but Quivera tells her that it's just in their nature. She compares humans to animals, warning Marnie that sometimes cruelty is a force of habit. At Quivera's house, Marnie is given bread and butter to eat, and milk to drink. She is reluctant to leave, but Quivera is anxious to have her out of the house before her brother returns; she implies that he is a cruel man, much like the butcherbirds. When Marnie gets home, her parents are furious, and demand to know where she has been. Her mother mixes the chemical powder into her drink; when Marnie says she vomited earlier in the day, her mother replies saying that she is already sick, but that Marnie makes her sicker with worry. Both her parents are aghast at hearing that she spent the day with Quivera - Marnie's father slaps her, hard. She runs away to her room because she has nowhere else to go.