Chasing after Titch, Wash becomes lost in the snow. He remembers little of this time, only “a hand on my arm, a sensation of being dragged, half-carried backwards through howling wind […] the snow all around […] the light, how it seemed to break and dissipate into smoke, and the taste of frost in my mouth, like rust” (203). Peter finds Wash and drags him back to camp, and Wash wakes up next to Mr. Wilde. Wash learns that while crews are out searching for Titch, there has been no sign of him. Although his crew tries to dissuade him, after several days, Mr. Wilde sets out to look for Titch, accompanied by Peter.

The two men return without Titch, and Wash can tell that Mr. Wilde believes his son is dead, although he does not explicitly say so. Mr. Wilde falls ill from the cold, and Peter is worried and restless. Thinking Titch dead, Wash thinks about Philip and reflects that “his single vicious gesture” had granted him a “new life” (207). Wash helps to tend to Mr. Wilde, and is at his bedside when he passes away. After Mr. Wilde’s death, Wash decides to leave the encampment and venture out on his own.