A Circle in the Fire

A Circle in the Fire Summary | Detailed Summary

It is afternoon, and Mrs. Pritchard and Mrs. Cope are working in Mrs. Cope's garden. Mrs. Pritchard, a large woman with a small face, works for Mrs. Cope. She is describing a wake she had recently attended for a woman who had died giving birth while confined to an iron lung. As they work, Mrs. Cope's young daughter watches from an upstairs window in the house.

Mrs. Cope is a small, trim woman who has little patience for Mrs. Pritchard's stories. As a result, she often tries to steer the conversation to more pleasant topics, a tactic that seems to annoy Mrs. Pritchard.

As the child watches from the window, she thinks about her mother's obsessive worry that a fire will start in the woods that surround their property. She thinks about the evenings they spend on the porch watching the woods and her mother's nightly requests for prayers to guard them against the danger of fire. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pritchard, oblivious to the fact that Mrs. Cope is not interested in her story, continues describing the scene she had witnessed at the wake.

As Mrs. Pritchard continues to speak, Mrs. Cope notices that her farm hands, on their way to one of the fields on a tractor, are taking a longer route than necessary. This angers Mrs. Cope because she thinks the workers are taking advantage of her and so she interrupts Mrs. Pritchard and tells her to summon a worker. When the worker arrives, she asks why he didn't go through the gate. The worker replies that to do so, he will have to raise the blade on the mower. Mrs. Cope tells him to raise the blade before dismissing him.

As the tractor disappears through the gate, Mrs. Pritchard returns again to the story of the wake. Mrs. Cope cuts her off, saying that everyone has things that they should be thankful for and asks Mrs. Pritchard if she says prayers of thanksgiving each day. Mrs. Pritchard replies that she does, and then attempts to continue her story. Again, Mrs. Cope interrupts her and says that she too says a Prayer of Thanksgiving each day. Mrs. Pritchard says that the only things she has are four abscessed teeth; Mrs. Cope responds that she should be thankful that she doesn't have five before adding that she can always find something to be thankful for.

Mrs. Cope then points to Mrs. Pritchard and remarks that as a result of her hard work, she has the best kept place in the county. She goes on to say that she has had to work hard in order to save and then keep her farm and that she manages to get through each day by not looking for trouble. Mrs. Pritchard responds that trouble usually comes all at once, an assertion that Mrs. Cope quickly disagrees with. As they continue to speak, the child notices that a pickup truck has stopped at the end of their driveway and let off three boys. The boys walk toward the house and are nearly there before Mrs. Cope sees them.

As the boys approach, Mrs. Pritchard wonders aloud who they might be. They advance towards the woman and stop. Mrs. Cope notices that they all seem to look alike, only the middle-sized boy, who appears to be about thirteen years of age, wears glasses. He is also carrying a suitcase, and she notices that the boy is extremely thin.

Addressing Mrs. Cope, the boy asks if she remembers him. As she tries to recall where they may have met, the boy tells her that his father, who is now dead, used to work for her. Mrs. Cope mistakes the boy for his older brother and so he tells her that he is actually Powell, the second son. He then goes on to tell her that his mother has since remarried and the family lives in Atlanta. When Mrs. Cope asks who the boys are with him, Powell introduces them as his friends.

Mrs. Cope notices the suitcase Powell has with him, and in an effort to move them along their way, she thanks them for visiting. For the first time, one of the other boys speaks and tells Mrs. Cope that Powell always talks about the time he lived on her farm and that he had the best time of his life there. When the boy mentions that they might like to ride Mrs. Cope's horses, she refuses, saying she is afraid they might get hurt. They boys don't respond to her refusal but after a few moments, the smallest of them tells Mrs. Cope that Powell once said he wanted to come to her farm when he died.

Mrs. Cope is startled by the remark and after regaining her composure, realizes that the boys look very hungry. She asks them if they would like something to eat and while they say yes, they don't seem to be particularly glad that she offered.

As all of this is taking place, Mrs. Cope's daughter, Sally Virginia, watches from the window. At twelve years old, she is overweight. When she hears her mother and Mrs. Pritchard talking inside, she goes to the banister to hear what they are saying. Mrs. Pritchard is concerned that the boys intend to spend the night. Mrs. Cope bristles at this suggestion and says she is sure they will leave once they've had something to eat.

As Mrs. Cope returns outside with a snack, one of the boys throws a cigarette butt onto the grass. She yells at him to pick it up, saying she is afraid of fires. The boy picks the butt up and puts it into his pocket. Mrs. Cope puts a plate of crackers down for the boys and hands them each a soda. She then asks Powell where he has been since leaving her farm. Powell tells her that they moved to Florida and lived there until his father died, then they lived with his sister until his mother remarried and they moved again to Atlanta. The youngest of the boys tells Mrs. Cope that Powell doesn't like Atlanta and that he often talks about the time he spent on her farm.

When the youngest boy suggests that they go see the horses, Powell asks Mrs. Cope if they can spend the night in her barn. He explains that his uncle dropped them off and that he will be back for them in the morning. Mrs. Cope refuses, saying she is afraid they will set her barn on fire. Powell assures her that they won't smoke, but Mrs. Cope will not relent. When Powell suggests that they will camp in the woods instead, Mrs. Cope becomes alarmed and tells them that the woods are very dry and she is afraid of fire. She tells them that if they are going to stay, they will have to camp in the field next to the house.

After the boys walk away to explore the farm, Mrs. Pritchard comments on how little they ate. Mrs. Cope agrees and says that they certainly looked hungry. When they return that evening, she offers them sandwiches. When she notices that one of the boys has a cut on his arm, she asks if they have been riding her horses, which they deny. As she prepares their lunches, she asks them more about themselves and they animatedly answer her questions. When she has finished making the sandwiches, Mrs. Cope brings them outside and sets them down for the boys. After they have emptied the plate, she bends down to pick it up and as she does, she notices that the setting sun is red and looks as though it might burn through the clouds and fall into the woods. The very notion of fire makes her anxious and she asks the boys if they thank God each night for all He has done for them. When the boys don't answer, she asks again. They still don't answer and so she tells them that she gives thanks each night.

Suddenly, Sally Virginia pokes her head from the window and makes a loud growling noise. The biggest of the three boys, apparently bothered by the fact that there is another woman in the house, makes a disparaging comment. As a result, when Sally Virginia sees her mother downstairs later, she comments that she would like to beat the daylight out of him. Her mother tells her to keep her distance from the boys, reminding her that they will be gone in the morning.

When the next morning arrives, the boys are still there. Mrs. Cope finds them near her back door after she has finished breakfast. When she tells them that she expected that they would be gone, the biggest boy says that they aren't leaving yet. Feeling somewhat provoked, she offers them some breakfast, but they refuse her offer. She tells them that if they are to stay, she expects that they will act like gentlemen.

Shortly after, Mrs. Pritchard arrives and tells Mrs. Cope that her husband saw the boys riding the horses the previous afternoon and also noticed that they had been drinking milk from the milk cans. Mrs. Cope tells Mrs. Pritchard that this can't continue; however, Mrs. Pritchard says that there is little that can be done and that they will probably stay until school begins. Mrs. Cope tells her that she will not sit back and let the boys do as they please. Mrs. Pritchard again says she doesn't think that they have much choice in the matter before going on to say that her husband told her that one of the boys asked if there was somewhere they could bathe. When he told them no, he also mentioned that they should not drop any cigarette butts in the woods. The comment caused one of the boys to argue that Mrs. Cope did not own the woods, the woods belonged to God.

As she listens to this story, Mrs. Cope becomes increasingly agitated and says that she will send the boys away on the milk truck. Sally Virginia says that she could handle them better and makes a gesture indicating that she would choke them. Shortly after, Mrs. Cope finds the boys and tells them that she wants them to leave on the milk truck, a decision that they apparently agree to. When she returns to the house, she tells Mrs. Pritchard that their suitcase is nearly filled with food.

When the milk truck arrives later that day, the boys are nowhere to be found; however, as it pulls away Mrs. Cope sees them in the calf barn. As she stands in her house looking at the boys, expressing her frustration at her inability to get them to leave, Sally Virginia says she would simply tell them that they have five minutes to get off their property. In response, Mrs. Cope simply reminds her that she is to stay away from the boys. Then, she decides to go out and "give them a piece of my mind."

As Sally Virginia watches from the window, Mrs. Cope walks toward the calf barn. When the boys see her coming, they run toward the woods. Soon, Mrs. Cope is joined by Mrs. Pritchard and the two women follow the boys into the woods. Unable to find the boys, Mrs. Cope returns home. A few moments later, Mrs. Pritchard comes to tell her that the boys have let the bull out of its pen. After the bull was safely captured and returned, Mrs. Pritchard repeated her earlier statement that there was little that they could do to control the situation.

Later that day, while Mrs. Cope is finishing her dinner, Mrs. Pritchard returns to inform her that the boys are throwing rocks at her mailbox. The two women and Sally Virginia get into the car and go to investigate. When they reach the boys, they are on the other side of the road throwing rocks at her mailbox. Mrs. Cope tells the boys that she is disappointed in them - that she had tried her best to be nice to them. One of the boys responds that they are not even on her side of the road. Frustrated, Mrs. Cope tells the boys that she is going into town and if they are not gone by the time she returns, she will call the sheriff. Mrs. Pritchard is concerned that this threat has angered the boys and that their destruction may reach new levels. Mrs. Cope disagrees, saying she is sure the boys will be gone when they return.

When they return from town a short time later, the boys are nowhere to be found, a fact that concerns Mrs. Pritchard. She says that she would rather see them, because then at least she will know what they're doing. Again, Mrs. Cope disagrees with her, saying that they have adequately scared the boys and they won't be returning. Sure enough, for the remainder of the afternoon, there is no sign of the boys. While Mrs. Cope says she is sure they're gone, Mrs. Pritchard says she thinks they will strike again after dark. That evening, Mrs. Cope and Sally Virginia remain on the porch until nearly ten o'clock, but there is no sign of the boys. As she became increasingly confident that the boys wouldn't return, Mrs. Cope began expressing a litany of blessings that she and her daughter had to be thankful for.

The next morning arrived with still no sign from the boys. Much to her mother's dismay, Sally Virginia dresses in a pair of overalls and an old felt hat. Armed with two pistols that she has placed in a holster fastened around her waist, she went out to the woods. As she leaves the house, Mrs. Pritchard arrives, complaining again about her abscessed teeth.

As Sally Virginia goes through the woods, she says aloud that she is going to find the boys and beat them up one by one. Stopping to rest, she hears laughter in the distance. Walking toward the sound, she finds the boys washing in the cow trough. While two of the boys were horsing around, Powell was sitting still, apparently lost in thought. Suddenly, he springs up and proclaims that if the place weren't there anymore, he wouldn't have to think about it. In response to this, the smallest of the boys says that the place doesn't belong to anyone. With that, the boys run around the field before dropping to the ground. As they rest, the biggest boy says he would make a big parking lot out of the farm.

As the boys get dressed, Powell quietly suggests that they set the place on fire. With that, they pool together all the matches they have and begin to set the brush on fire. Sally Virginia watches in horror before running back to the house. Before she could reach the house, however, Mrs. Cope sees the flames. She screams for the farm hands, who don't move quickly enough to suit her.

As Sally Virginia stands beside her mother, she notices that she looks more miserable than she ever had before. She then looks toward the fire and sees the smoke rising above the trees. As she watches, she is sure she can hear the boys laughing in the distance.