Summary
The day Phoebe leaves the Hiddles' house and concludes the weekend-long sleepover, she returns home to a development in her mother's absence. Norma Winterbottom, Phoebe's mother, had not called Mr. Winterbottom directly, but she had called Margaret Cadaver and given her a message to pass along to her family. Margaret's note to Mr. Winterbottom simply says, "Norma called to say she is okay" (171). Phoebe is totally unsatisfied with this "proof" that her mother is okay. She doesn't trust Margaret and tells her father that she suspects Margaret of killing her mother and trying to cover her tracks. She wants to call the police. Mr. Winterbottom thinks she is being ridiculous and drawing on an overactive imagination. He tells her that if Norma doesn't call him herself by Wednesday, he will notify the police. After an argument with her dad, Phoebe tells Sal that she's made up her mind; she's going to the police herself.
The next day at school, Phoebe gives her report on Pandora and her box of plagues and sorrows. When she begins the report, she seems shaky and self-conscious, but then she begins to rather pettily draw parallels between the myth of Pandora and her friends Sal and the Finneys. She talks about how Zeus arranged a dinner for all of the other deities of Olympus and describes how he had matching flatware and cutlery, while shooting a pointed glance at Ben and Mary Lou, as a criticism of what she views as their family's "undignified" way of having dinner together. When she talks about how Zeus presented Pandora with a gift, she emphasizes that the gift was meant to make Pandora feel like a welcomed and honored guest and shoots another pointed look at Sal, to refer to what she, Phoebe, perceived as an unceremonious hosting at the sleepover.
As Phoebe makes these passive-aggressive digs at her friends, she gains steam and confidence in her presentation. When she finally gets around to the crux of the story of Pandora's box, it sends Sal into introspection about the function of hope, which leads her to think about how delicate and volatile life can sometimes be. She says, "I wanted to call Phoebe and say that maybe her mother had gone looking for something, maybe her mother was unhappy, maybe there was nothing Phoebe could do about it" (175-176). This line of thinking leads Sal to a revelation of her own, that perhaps she could apply the same logic to her own mother's leaving. The grandparents Hiddle exchange a meaningful look when Sal arrives at this momentous conclusion, indicating that she has finally discovered for herself something her loved ones have been trying to convince her of all along.
The Hiddles head to the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore. Sal is anxious about how much time it's taking them to get to Lewiston. She suggests skipping the Black Hills, but Gramps cannot abide. He insists they stop at Mount Rushmore, but when they finally get to the statue, they are all a bit underwhelmed by it. Their next stop is Yellowstone, where Gram is especially excited to see Old Faithful. Sal really wishes they would stop with all of the pit stops. They have two days left before her mother's birthday, and she has to make it in time, despite Gramps saying that they have "all the time in the world" (177). Sal privately considers ditching her grandparents and hitching a ride with a fast driver, but the thought of speeding down the interstate, and especially speeding around the sharp curves outside of Lewiston, makes her even more anxious. Gramps mentions that the long days of driving are making him weary and jokes that he should turn the wheel over to Sal. Though he's only joking, Sal actually does know how to drive, because Gramps taught her how to drive his truck in Bybanks.
When Mr. Birkway teaches the class about Longfellow's poem, "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls," Phoebe finally commits to going to the police station after school. The poem, which describes an encroaching evening and a traveler's footsteps being washed away by the tide, triggers Phoebe and Sal's grief and paranoia. They spiral and start talking to the class about kidnappings, murderers, and the existential dread of death. Different students have different reactions to the poem. Some take comfort in their faith, others find the poem peaceful. Ben suggests that death is a normal part of life.
After school, Sal and Phoebe go straight to the police station. They walk inside and tell the desk sergeant they need to speak to a detective about a kidnapping and potential murder. Sal immediately senses that the police are not taking them seriously. When they're taken to Sergeant Bickle's office, Phoebe explains the entire saga of Margaret Cadaver, the lunatic, and the mysterious messages on the porch. Sal is acutely aware of the Sergeant's mouth occasionally twitching at the corners. Then, Bickle leaves his office, leaving Sal and Phoebe with a colleague of his. He's gone for over an hour, and when he returns, Mr. Winterbottom trails behind him. Though Phoebe is relieved to see her father, Sal knows that Mr. Winterbottom is just there to take them home. He's clearly very embarrassed. He drives them both back to the Winterbottoms' without a word. Phoebe gives him grief at the house for not pursuing Norma more earnestly. She says, "Mom loves me, and she would not leave me without any explanation" (188). When she says this, Mr. Winterbottom starts to cry.
One night, after Margaret leaves in her scrubs, presumably for an overnight shift at the hospital, Phoebe phones Sal. She says it's urgent and Sal needs to come over right away. Sal is reluctant, since it's late and dark out, but she's convinced. She meets Phoebe in front of Margaret's house on their street. All the lights are off inside. Sal follows Phoebe onto Margaret's porch. Phoebe jiggles the doorknob and finds it unlocked, so she creeps inside. Sal hesitantly follows her in. As they walk into the dark living room, a voice surprises them. It is Margaret's mother, Mrs. Partridge. She's reading braille in the corner of the room. She knows it's Sal before either of the girls can say anything. She greets them. Sal tries to play it off as if they were just coming by to say hello. Mrs. Partridge is reading a murder mystery. While Sal talks to Mrs. Partridge, Phoebe takes stock of objects in the room that she finds suspicious. She picks up a sword, and Mrs. Partridge tells her to be careful not to cut herself. This disturbs Sal, that Mrs. Partridge is so perceptive of what is going on, even without her sense of sight. Then Mrs. Partridge tells Phoebe that she met her brother earlier. Phoebe says she doesn't have a brother, and Mrs. Partridge shrugs it off, saying, "I guess this old noggin isn't as sharp as it used to be" (193).
When they leave the house, Phoebe tells Sal she'll follow up with the police about suspicious items in the house and bring them some hair follicles she collected off the carpet. Sal suggests to Phoebe that it's possible her mom left because she had some personal issues to work out, and she needed to be alone. She says that maybe her mom didn't explain why she left because she simply couldn't explain it; maybe she didn't have a clear explanation for herself, even. Sal tells Phoebe that she should prepare for the possibility that her mother won't ever come back. At this point, Phoebe tells Sal to "shut up," and that she's being "horrid" (194). She runs back into her house. Sal also goes home. She takes stock of her possessions that remind her of her mother. She's afraid to fall asleep, because she thinks that when she does, she'll have nightmares about the foamy tide from the Longfellow poem washing up on the shore, and of ghostly white hands. The next morning she calls Phoebe, fully committed to finding Norma Winterbottom.
The next day at school is a total disaster, because Mr. Birkway reads excerpts of people's summer journals out loud to the entire class. He promises to change all of the names and cover the fronts of the journals with yellow legal paper to protect everyone's privacy, but of course, the students know each other so well that they are easily able to figure out whose journal he's reading. People feel betrayed by their friends' depictions of them. Mary Lou wrote some disparaging things about Alex, who she's now dating, and after hearing her entry, Alex gets mad at her. Christy writes about how Mary Lou is constantly taking the Lord's name in vain. Sal suspects that Ben wrote a passage about someone he had a crush on, but she feels a pang of jealousy knowing for a fact he wasn't writing about her, because he hadn't met her yet at that point.
After school, Sal and Phoebe go straight to the precinct to speak to Sergeant Bickle. He tries to explain that their suspicious are misguided, that they don't understand the true reason Norma left, but that she's safe and acting on her own accord. Phoebe loses it. She calls Sergeant Bickle an idiot and tells him that he's the one who doesn't understand. Then, Phoebe storms out of the office with her evidence bags. Bickle follows her out, leaving Sal alone in the office. Sal sneaks a peek at the Sergeant's framed photos on his desk and is surprised to see a familiar face staring back at her; it is the so-called lunatic, standing arm-in-arm between Bickle and presumably his wife. From this photo, Sal surmises that the "lunatic" is Sergeant Bickle's son.
Sal rushes to the Winterbottoms' house to tell her about Sergeant Bickle's son, but she can't find Phoebe anywhere. Outside, she sees Mrs. Partridge all dressed up and ready to go somewhere. Sal says hello and asks her if she's walking to her destination. Mrs. Partridge tells her that her son Jimmy is picking her up. Then, Mr. Birkway pulls up to the curb. Sal is shocked to learn that Mr. Birkway is Mrs. Partridge's son and Margaret's twin brother. Now, Sal has two pieces of urgent information to tell Phoebe, and she's still nowhere to be found.
The next day at school, Phoebe refuses to talk to Sal about the previous day, so Sal is unable to tell her anything about Sergeant Bickle's son or Mr. Birkway being related to Margaret and Mrs. Partridge. In English, Birkway continues to read journal excerpts. Sal is mortified when he reads from her journal an entry about how she once saw her mother kiss a maple tree on their farm in Bybanks, and now she is in the habit of kissing trees. She writes about how every tree has a distinct taste. The last journal Mr. Birkway reads is clearly Phoebe's. Birkway slows down halfway through the passage, because he realizes that Phoebe is writing about her theory that his twin sister, Margaret, murdered her husband and buried him in her backyard. He tries to cut the reading short, but ironically it is the only entry that the class is genuinely interested in, and they insist he continue.
Sal goes to Phoebe's after school, but before she can tell her about Mr. Birkway, there's a knock on the door. Mr. Birkway is at the Winterbottom residence. Mr. Winterbottom comes upstairs to bring Sal and Phoebe into the living room. There, Mr. Birkway is holding Phoebe's journal. He apologizes for reading it to the class. He realizes now that it was wrong to read people's private thoughts without their permission, even if he changed the names around. Then he explains to Phoebe that Margaret is his sister. He tells her that her husband is dead, but not because Margaret murdered him. He was in a fatal car accident; a drunk driver slammed into his car, killing him and blinding Mrs. Partridge. Margaret was the nurse on duty when they were rushed into the hospital. He also offers his sympathy about Norma leaving, but assures Phoebe that Margaret would not have kidnapped or murdered her. Phoebe is mortified by her behavior and assumptions. Mr. Birkway leaves. That night, Sal is finally able to tell Phoebe that the "lunatic" is Sergeant Bickle's son, and together, they hatch a plan to speak to him.
On the road, the Hiddles stop to see Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. Gram stays up all night in anticipation. They get there early and stand right up against the rope, as close as they can get without being yelled at by a park ranger. Gram tries to get closer, but she's stopped by a ranger who tells her she's plenty close to see the geyser blow. A crowd forms in anticipation. It gets closer and closer to the time when the geyser is supposed to blow. A few preemptive sputters disappoint a few bystanders, who believe that they're the main event. But then, the geyser's true, unmistakable eruption commences. Everyone retreats to avoid the full force of the spray, except for Gram, who revels in it. After Old Faithful, they light out for Idaho.
Analysis
In these chapters, Creech explores the concept of empathy and the notion that there are many ways of seeing and perceiving the same scenes or circumstances depending on an individual's perspective and background. The most explicit examples of this exploration occur in Mr. Birkway's classroom, both during his lesson on "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls," and later, when he shows the class the optical illusion that could either be seen as a vase or as two mirrored faces in profile. When Birkway reads the Longfellow poem, it elicits unique reactions from different students. Some of their reactions are predictable based on how Creech has previously sketched their character; for example, when Sal anxiously explicates the poem, emphasizing the terrible specter of death and mortality, Megan chimes in, "What about heaven? What about God?" (182). We know, based on previous classroom dialogue, that Megan is a pious Christian character, and this reaction reinforces what we already know about her. In the case of Phoebe and Sal, the poem affects them very similarly and is a way for Creech to demonstrate their parallel emotional arcs. Ben's reaction gestures to that which we don't know about him, the mysteries of his background, such as the story of why he's staying with his aunt and uncle, and whatever may have happened to his own parents. Ben says, "Maybe he didn't drown," referring to the traveler in the poem. "Maybe he just died, like normal people die." When Sal insists that it is not normal to die, that it is, in fact, terrible, Ben responds, "Maybe dying could be normal and terrible" (183).
On the second day of journal-sharing, Birkway presents the class with an optical illusion. When he demonstrates how half the class sees one image, and the other half sees a completely different image, and they're both correct, he explains how "the drawing was a bit like symbols. Maybe the artist only intended to draw a vase, and maybe some people look at this picture and see only that vase. That is fine, but if some people look at it and see faces, what is wrong with that? It is faces to that person who is looking at it. And, what is even more magnificent, you might see both" (214). Here, Creech, through Birkway, demonstrates the value of keeping an open mind and not assuming that one interpretation of circumstances is the only plausible interpretation.
Ironically, as Birkway is teaching this lesson about empathy and considering multiple perspectives, when he reads the students' private journals out loud he fails to follow his own advice. Even though he changes everyone's name and covers the front of the journals, Birkway fails to consider that these students know each other so well that they'll be able to easily determine through context whose journals are being read and who is being written about. Only after Birkway reads Phoebe's journal entry about his twin sister, Margaret Cadaver, does he realize how uncomfortable and invasive the activity is. Birkway fails to "walk in his students' moccasins" before reading their journals, and it takes him experiencing the same humiliation and invasion that they feel to realize that he's in the wrong. This realization prompts him to go to the Winterbottoms' house, apologize to Phoebe, and assure her that Margaret didn't murder her husband. When he tells Phoebe and Sal how Margaret's husband died in a tragic car accident, Sal and Phoebe understand the harm of jumping to conclusions and assuming their interpretation of circumstances was true before hearing other perspectives.
