Someone mentioned that the baby corpse was "mummified", and thus dehydrated. And, if you recall, Seth's mother kept forcing him to drink water, plus his father mentioned once or twice that it's important to stay hydrated - therefor, it would seem to me that the baby may have been Seth & Cameron's still-born / new-born brother, who died of severe dehydration, prompting his parents to obsess about drinking water. Or, I'm crazy - one of the two.

But why the heck was it in the barn?

it seemed fleshy, but also seemed carved. it smells of fish. fish come from the ocean. Dolphin's family were former fishermen. it might also have been more of Dolphin's relics

That's a very good explanation, especially considering the mother's frame of mind. I also thought it was a stillbirth, because it was pretty much the size of a newborn, not a fetus. Of course, all this is speculation because it's up to us to draw our own conclusions.

I got the impression it was the main character's dead little sibling whose body had been placed in the barn and dessicated/mummified somewhat. Lord knows that mother didn't need to have any more children! It seemed to have been stillborn, not just fetal. That would help explain her major depression, as if she needed more disaster in her life.

Thanks. It looked clearly like a clay carving, but the boys said it smelled like fish? So I thought it must be something organic. You're probably right, though. Just a thing to represent the angel/ dead child concept.

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