Mercy Among the Children

Cheryl Voteur and Lyle fool around. The Sheppard brothers are kind to Lyle to placate him. Lyle knows the Sheppards and Mat Pit are responsible for defaming his father.

Autumn and Lyle protect their mother from Constable Morris, who is ashamed when he realizes that the Hendersons always saw through his defamation of Sydney and stops coming to the house.

Lyle steals the chalice from church but is unable to sell it because its absence is newsworthy. He starts to suffer from guilt at having stolen the church chalice. He confides in Cheryl, and now the Sheppards know and are threatening him. Penny Porier, whom Lyle still loves, must return from university because she is sick from McVicer’s paper mill’s use of pesticides. Meanwhile, Gerald Dove’s investigation into McVicer’s works gains impetus. Penny testifies publicly in the Dove case, and the next day, McVicer tells her that he will pay for her education. Penny refuses McVicer and goes to the meetings against her parents’ will.

The government sides with Gerald Dove and Penny Porier. At a press conference, McVicer claims the government incentivized the use of the pesticides he poisoned the public with.