things go badly for the searchers below; they are caught in a storm, in which jack loses his pumpkin head. jenny and the professor have to lead or drag his headless stick-body along with them. they wander into an enchanted orchard, where they confront an army of rebellious quinces. by this time, the week of the wogglebug's planned vacation has expired, and the air castle's time is up: it melts, cracks, dissolves, shatters, and otherwise falls apart around its occupants. they come tumbling down upon the enchanted orchard, and the search party, and the quince army. in a final confrontation, the quince soldiers commit mass suicide by shooting their sooty stems at scraps. she is so blackened by the soot that she tries to hide from the world.