up a sack full of canned goods from Hannah. Initially unsuccessful at reaching out to the hermit, Percy discovers his makeshift abode in the woods where he crafts several art pieces resembling birds and owls. Slowly but surely, Percy begins to gain the trust of the hermit. At the same time, she learns from Shelby about how Hannah's missing son, Eli, had enlisted to serve in the Vietnam War and was never seen again, causing James to die from heartbreak and Hannah to become hard-hearted. Eventually, with help from her former cellmates in prison, Percy puts forward the idea to hold a $100-per-entry essay contest to find a new owner for the grill. Hannah opens up to the idea and this leads to more and more mail coming in with more money for the grill, thus creating a positive change in the town in regard to their perception of Percy and her perception to the town in turn. This even allows Percy to open up more about her past to Shelby. Unfortunately, the plans are disrupted by Nahum's suspicions about Percy and the investigation reveals that she went to prison for manslaughter. This turns the town and even Hannah against Percy, leaving Shelby as the only person to vouch for Percy which she angrily does to Nahum's face. Wrongly assuming that Percy will steal from the Grill, Nahum sneaks into the Grill and empties the safe of all the money into the sack, which Percy unwittingly takes into the woods for the hermit. The next day, Hannah finds the safe gone and assumes that Percy stole the money and took off, forcing the local sheriff to gather a posse of state troopers and some of Gilead's citizens to search for Percy. Shelby correctly deduces that Percy took shelter in an abandoned church that they had explored earlier on and finds her inside. There, Percy reveals that she was in an abusive relationship with her stepfather, Mason, who impregnated her and then later assaulted her, leading to her unborn baby's death. After whisking her away from the hospital and to a hotel, Mason drunkenly insulted the memory of Percy's baby, provoking her to kill him with a razor blade and leading to her incarceration. The local sheriff arrives with his men and takes Percy into custody. When Shelby confronts Hannah over the accusations against Percy, they learn that Percy gave the