Biography
Sylvia was a 15-year-old girl who lived with her widowed father, Hector Webb. She had physically matured faster than most of her female classmates, and, as a result, attracted attention from several teenage boys in her classroom.
When Albert Ingalls, Willie Oleson and some of their male classmates are caught peering through her bedroom window, Mrs. Olsen calls a board meeting and accuses Sylvia of teasing and luring boys over to her house. However, she is quickly overruled by the rest of the board when Charles Ingalls points out (without condoning) that school-age boys often try to sneak a peek at young girls out of natural curiosity, and they cannot blame Sylvia for it. Despite this, her father accuses her of enticing the boys and orders her to wrap herself more tightly under her clothes to conceal her budding breasts.
Albert and Sylvia!!
Meanwhile, Albert admits that he participated in peeping through Sylvia’s window, and was able to smooth things over with Sylvia when he defends her against several classroom boys who continue to tease her.
One afternoon, while walking home from school, Sylvia picks some flowers in a nearby meadow and woods. She is then seized from behind and raped by an unidentifiable assailant dressed in black and wearing a clown mask and knit cap (the rape taking place off-camera). After the assault, she eventually makes her way home, bruised and battered, and tells her father, Hector Webb, of the attack. Hector is devastated, but more concerned for his reputation than injury to his daughter. He tells her not to tell anyone since no one must know “of [this] disgrace” and leaves her to cry in her room.
Not long after, Sylvia collapses at school after being severely overworked by her father (much to the concern of fellow town citizens), and is brought to Dr. Baker by Laura and Albert. After examining her, Dr. Baker reveals that, in addition to her exhaustion, Sylvia is pregnant. That evening, Harriet Oleson, notorious for taking advantage of her position as a telephone operator to eavesdrop on private conversations, has learned of Sylvia’s pregnancy and begins spreading an unfounded rumor that Albert is the father. Meanwhile, Mr. Webb becomes deeply shamed and announces plans to sell the house and move out of the town. He tells Sylvia they need to move to a town where no one knows them and to say, regarding her pregnancy, that her “husband” died in an accident. When Sylvia accuses him of blaming her for the attack, he replies, “You reap what you sow,” confirming that he holds her responsible for the attack.
Despite Hector Webb’s regimented control and distrust of his daughter, Albert and Sylvia have become secretly romantically involved. Albert even wished to care for Sylvia as well as her child and to raise the baby as his own. To arrange to see Albert without arousing her father’s suspicions, Sylvia tells her father that she is staying after school to assist Laura Ingalls Wilder in grading papers. When Mr. Webb finds out that Sylvia has lied to him and that Albert has been secretly visiting her, he threatens to kill Albert if he does so again. He then comes to believe Albert had fathered his daughter’s baby and vows to kill him for it. When Sylvia protests that Albert is innocent, Hector replies that he cannot “believe a whore.” Wounded by the insult and the implied distrust, Sylvia runs away. Mr. Webb barges into the Ingalls’ house with a gun, but is prevented from shooting Albert by Charles Ingalls. Albert swears that he did not get Sylvia pregnant. Mr. Webb is finally convinced of Albert’s innocence.
Charles, Albert, and Mr. Webb search for Sylvia, but Albert finds her first at an abandoned barn. The two resolve to run away together, and Albert leaves to make the arrangements. Albert is then caught stealing money from his employer, the local blacksmith, Irv Hartwig. As he pleads with Hartwig for his assistance in carrying out their plans, he discloses Sylvia’s whereabouts to him.
At the abandoned barn, Sylvia is again attacked by her masked assailant. Attempting to defend herself, Sylvia swings a piece of lumber at her attacker. The attacker is knocked of his feet, and he mask and cap are dislodged, revealing her assailant to be Irv Hartwig. As Hartwig pursues Sylvia up a ladder, he is grabbed from behind by Albert, who is easily thrown off. Sylvia then falls from the ladder and loses consciousness. Hartwig, remarkably unconcerned that Sylvia has been injured, takes a piece of lumber and prepares to strike Albert. At that moment, however, he is shot and apparently killed by Mr. Webb.
That evening, under Dr. Baker’s care, Sylvia requests to see Albert. Although Dr. Baker’s grimness suggests that Sylvia is near death, Albert tells Sylvia she got “lucky” and that she will soon recover. Albert then convinces her that the two of them will still get married. As she fantasizes about being married in a church and wearing yellow flowers for the wedding, she asks Albert to kiss her. After he does, Sylvia loses consciousness and dies.