Serafina and the Black Cloak

Mr. Thorne pulls Serafina to the ground. She is repulsed by his appearance: His skin is bloody and flaking, as if he is decaying before her eyes. He is intent on fighting and killing her to reclaim the Cloak. Serafina’s vision fades as he chokes the life from her, but then she thinks of Pa and realizes she cannot let the rat win. She wrestles an arm free just as Gidean leaps from the edge of the clearing to attack the Man. The lioness leaves the den to help Gidean. Serafina tries to stab the Cloak with Mr. Thorne’s dagger, but the blade will not pierce the fabric. As the Cloak begins to wrap itself around Serafina, she stumbles to the angel statue and throws herself toward the sword. The blade scratches her, but the Cloak takes the brunt of the hit, screaming in agony. Serafina uses the blade to shred the Cloak. Thorne’s body decays rapidly, stinking and smoking. Soon a cloud of smoke obscures Serafina’s vision. She calls to Gidean to come away, and the lioness goes to her den. Then Serafina trips over the leg of a strangely misshapen little girl suddenly lying in the clearing.

Serafina is terrified that the girl will be a rotting carcass but then sees that it is Clara Brahms, who recognizes Serafina as the girl who tried to save her in Biltmore’s basement. All of the Cloak’s other victims appear from the smoke, including Anastasia, Nolan, a boy looking for his violin, and many other children and adults. Then Serafina sees a woman with hair like her own. The woman shivers, and when Nolan provides a coat, she paws at it instead of using her fingers. Serafina is shocked to see the woman’s amber eyes—and other features—resemble her own. Serafina asks who she is.

The woman ignores the question and asks where her babies are. She goes to the lioness’s den and attempts to crawl in, making an odd hissing noise. The two cubs run out and jump lovingly onto the woman, who laughs in relief and hugs them to her. Serafina looks for the lioness but does not see her. The woman goes still when she sees Serafina. She says, “You’re her! You’re really her! I can’t believe it! Look at you!” (269). She tells Serafina that she is amazing, then apologizes as Serafina does not recognize her. The woman says her name is Leandra and tells Serafina, “You know who I am” (270). Serafina denies it, and Leandra tells her that she is Serafina’s mother. Serafina goes still and realizes it is true. She cries and they embrace.

Leandra explains to Serafina that she is a “changer,” a woman who can transform into a catamount at will. Years before, she had a husband, also a catamount, and she was expecting. The Man in the Black Cloak attacked her in her human form. She fought but lost the human part of her soul to the Cloak while the catamount part escaped. She could not turn back to being human; when her babies were born, all were dead but Serafina, and she thought Serafina would die too. Unable to care for a human, malformed baby and stricken with grief, Leandra allowed a man walking by to take away the baby. Leandra says she can tell Pa raised Serafina very well and that she is perfect. She explains that she attacked Serafina days before out of instinct but immediately knew Serafina by her eyes. Last, she explains that Mr. Thorne was decaying of old age and required the souls of children for their youth. Her mother assures her that she will teach her new skills in the days to come, and that Serafina can help her reacclimate to a human world: “We are family and kin, and nothing shall ever break that bond between us again” (277).

Serafina leads the rescued adults and children to Biltmore and stands at the edge of the forest with Gidean on one side and her mother in lioness form on the other. She sees Braeden on horseback directing riders to follow Gidean, whom he set on Serafina’s trail. Suddenly he sees Serafina and stops. Every one of the riders, guests, and servants turns to see Serafina. After so many years of hiding, it feels strange but wonderful to be seen. Soon Nolan and the others begin to step from the forest.

The parents and the missing children tearfully reunite. Serafina’s mother returns to the forest, not ready for the world of humans—and with young cubs waiting for her in the den. Serafina hugs her and tells her she will visit soon. Serafina informs Braeden of Mr. Thorne’s demise and the Cloak’s destruction, and he tells her she is amazing. Pa and Serafina embrace, and Pa tells her he is proud of her. He also tells her that he got the dynamo working again—and put a lock on the door. Braeden interrupts to introduce Serafina to his aunt. He bluntly reveals that she and Pa live in the basement, which dismays Serafina briefly; Mrs. Vanderbilt, however, is not at all angry, just surprised. Serafina tells them the children, disoriented, could not find their way out of the old cemetery, and that her neck wound came from “a nasty thorn” (288). The Vanderbilts are happy to hear that Serafina is the Chief Rat Catcher. Mrs. Vanderbilt is proud that Braeden chose such an excellent friend and promises to send real beds with real linens and pillows for Pa and Serafina. Serafina is thrilled, as she wants to sleep for a long time. She looks around Biltmore with new eyes, eager to take on her expanded role as “defender against intruders and evil spirits” (293). She believes this Guardian role suits her very well.