Walk Two Moons Chapter Summaries
Chapter 16: The Singing Tree
Gram awakens (wakes up) in good health and ready to leave. As they walk out to the car, Sal hears a bird in a tree that reminds her of Kentucky. She pauses to recall a tree in their backyard she had dubbed (named) "the singing tree" because it housed a bird with a beautiful song and appeared to sing by itself. Sal remembers keeping sad vigil over the tree on the day she and her father found out her mother was not coming back from Idaho. The tree did not sing at all on that dark day. As Sal and her grandparents resume their travels, Sal no longer feels the need to rush: suddenly, she wants to slow down.
Chapter 17: In the Course of a Lifetime
Phoebe, worried that Sal has not yet told her father about Mrs. Cadaver, asks Sal what she will do if Mrs. Cadaver murders her father. To her surprise, Sal finds herself saying that she will go and live with her mother, even though she knows this is impossible.
At Phoebe's, the girls find Mrs. Winterbottom hacking glumly (sadly) at a pan of burned brownies. Both Phoebe and Prudence become frustrated with Mrs. Winterbottom's attempts to help them with their problems. Phoebe finds another note on the doorstep, asking them, "In the course of a lifetime, what does it matter?" The message seems to strike a chord with Mrs. Winterbottom, but her daughters do not notice the change in her attitude. Sal walks home, acting like Phoebe's and Prudence's problems do not matter in the course of a lifetime, but the way they are treating their mother does matter.
Chapter 20: The Blackberry Kiss
In her mini-journal, Sal writes about a habit she picked up from her mother. Sal remembers that she had been watching her mother one morning from her bedroom window. Her mother, thinking no one could see her, popped a couple of fresh blackberries in her mouth and threw her arms around and kissed a tree. Later, Sal had crept up to the tree, on which she thought she could see a small purple stain from the blackberries. Sal kissed the tree, and, since then, often kisses trees, which, she writes, always taste faintly of blackberries.
The next day in English class, they read E.E. Cummings's "The Little Horse is Newly," and Sal enjoys thinking about the newborn colt's first experiences and sensations.
After school, Ben uses an invalid (untrue; not supported by evidence) claim that he can read palms to trick Sal into letting him hold her hand. Sal, shocked at her body's pleasant reaction to his touch, storms off without a word. Ben trails her, and when he leaves her at Phoebe's doorstep, he kisses her ear.
Inside, Sal finds Phoebe worrying about a note from Mrs. Winterbottom telling her to lock the doors. Notes for Prudence and Mr. Winterbottom rest on the table. As the other members of the family come home and open their notes, the family finds that Mrs. Winterbottom has gone away for a few days without any explanation. Phoebe flies into a panic, certain that the lunatic is responsible for her disappearance.
At home, Sal relays (tells about) these events to her father, who tells Sal sadly that usually people come back. Sal hopes wildly that his words might mean that through some miracle, her own mother will come back.
Chapter 21: Souls
The next day at school, Sal watches in sympathy as Phoebe, so obviously sad and worried, tries to act normally. In English class that day, Mr. Birkway has his students draw their souls in fifteen seconds. The class is surprised by how similar the drawings are; each has a central, basic shape with a design in the middle. Sal and Ben discover that they have made the same drawing: a circle with a maple leaf inside.
Chapter 26: Sacrifices
Phoebe arrives at Sal's on Saturday morning, and immediately begins to complain about Sal's house and room, explaining that Mrs. Winterbottom has taught her that guests deserve the most lavish treatment. (Lavish means extravagant or rich) Sal fumes at Phoebe's complaining, even though she understands that her friend is upset and distracted with worry for her mother. (fumed means very angry) Immediately, Sal wonders if her father feels this way when Sal throws tantrums.
The two girls decide to visit Mary Lou. Sal sits with Ben on the front porch and finds herself unable to explain why she was wanting to touch his face, but she restrains herself. (restrains means to have self-control; to not do something) Sal, realizing how much Mary Lou's parents remind her of her own parents, watches a bit wistfully as Mr. and Mrs. Finney climb a ladder to the roof of the garage, where, alone for a few moments, they hug and kiss each other. (wistfully means to be deep in sad thoughts)
That night, Sal sleeps on the floor, leaving the bed to Phoebe, who cries herself to sleep. Sal leaves her to her sadness, recognizing that Phoebe wants to be alone with her pain.
Chapter 27: Pandora's Box
When Phoebe returns home the next day, Mr. Winterbottom informs her that Mrs. Winterbottom phoned Mrs. Cadaver to tell the Winterbottoms that she was safe. Phoebe, suspecting Mrs. Cadaver of dismembering and burying Mrs. Winterbottom, wants to call the police. Mr. Winterbottom concedes (agrees) that if they have not heard from her by Wednesday, he will call the police.
The next day at school, Phoebe delivers an oral presentation on the Pandora myth. She carefully corrects the flaws in Ben's interpretation, pointing out that Pandora was a gift to man, not a punishment. She injects the myth with details and values from her own life, and finally explains Pandora's problem: the gods gave her insatiable curiosity and then tempted her with a beautiful box, which they told her not to open. (insatiable means always needing more) Naturally, she opened the box and all the evils of the world came pouring out. Among the evils was one source of good: hope.
Later that night, Sal reasons that if a box of all the good in the world existed but contained one evil, that evil would be worry. Sal feels overwhelmed by her desire to call Phoebe and explain to her that Mrs. Winterbottom has left for her own reasons, reasons that had nothing to do with Phoebe. At this point, Sal's grandparents turn to her, echoing her words: her mother's leaving had nothing to do with Phoebe. Sal stops, realizing for the first time that in the same way, perhaps her mother's leaving had nothing to do with her.
Chapter 31: The Photograph
The next day, another note, having the message, "We never know the worth of water until the well runs dry" appears on Phoebe's doorstep.
Before school, Sal and Ben are talking at Ben's locker, and Sal almost kisses him, but misses him and ends up kissing the locker. In English class that day, the students discover, much to their horror, that Mr. Birkway intends to read excerpts from everyone's journals to the rest of the class. (excerpts mean parts or sections of a passage) He changes the names used in the journals and hides their covers, but everyone can tell who is writing and about whom he or she is writing by the writer's language and topic.
One by one, students burst out in anger at each other, as Mr. Birkway, enjoying the "honesty" or "opposing emotions" of the passages, reads out from journal after journal.
After school, Phoebe and Sal run to the police station once again with the new message and the "clues" in Mrs. Cadaver's house. Sergeant Bickle leads Phoebe out of his office, and Sal idly (lazily) glances over the pictures on his desk. To her shock, she sees a photo of Sergeant Bickle, his wife, and the lunatic.
Chapter 32: Chicken and Blackberry Kisses
Sal and her grandparents reach Yellowstone National Park in the evening and find a motel, planning to see Old Faithful in the morning.
Before they go to sleep, she continues Phoebe's story. On her way home from the police station, Sal walks past Mrs. Cadaver's house. To her surprise, Mr. Birkway appears, ready to escort Mrs. Partridge to an event. She soon learns that Mr. Birkway and Mrs. Cadaver are twins, and Mrs. Partridge is their mother. Sal tries to find Phoebe and tell her, but cannot find or contact her at all that night. The next day at school, Phoebe refuses to tell Sal where she was the night before. Sal's perplexity or confusion with Phoebe dissipates or lessens. Mr. Birkway resumes or continues reading from journals. One writer expresses frustration with English class and its obsession with text and symbols, which causes Mr. Birkway to use an optical illusion to demonstrate how amazing it is to be able to see one thing in two—or more—ways. Then he reads from Sal's journal. The class titters or laugh quietly at Sal's tree-kissing and her natural tendency to act in odd ways, but is quickly distracted from their amusement when Mr. Birkway, to his increasing disappointment about Sal’s journal entry, reads aloud Phoebe's journal entry, which contains her suspicions about Mrs. Cadaver. Chaos breaks out in the class as the bell rings.
Chapter 33: The Visitor
Gram finds that she cannot fall asleep, and asks Sal to go on with the story. That evening, Sal rushes over to Phoebe's house, but before she can tell her that Mr. Birkway is Mrs. Cadaver's brother, Mr. Birkway himself appears at the Winterbottom house with Phoebe's journal in hand. He apologizes to her for reading her journal aloud and proceeds or continues to explain that Mrs. Cadaver is his sister and that her husband died in a car accident that also blinded Mrs. Partridge. Margaret, he sadly adds, was the nurse on duty at the emergency room the night of the accident, and had tried to treat her husband and mother. When Mr. Birkway leaves, Sal reveals to Phoebe that the lunatic is Sergeant Bickle's son. They devise a plan, and Sal goes home. That night, Sal lays awake, imagining what Mrs. Cadaver had felt when the ambulance brought her husband and mother to her in the emergency room. The words of the mysterious messages permeate or spread throughout her visualization of the accident.
Chapter 36: The Visit
When the girls arrive at the bus stop the next morning, they find Ben waiting for the bus as well. He explains that he is going to visit someone at a hospital in Chanting Falls, and the girls quickly lie that they are visiting a friend at the college there.
As they ride the bus together, Sal, who is sitting next to Ben, enjoys feeling Ben's arm press up against hers. At the university, the two girls, feeling absurdly or ridiculously out of place, timidly ask for Mike Bickle's room number at the front desk of his dormitory. The man promptly or immediately gives them the number. The two girls panic and run outside. Outside, however, they find the lunatic himself sitting on a bench with Mrs. Winterbottom.
Chapter 37: A Kiss
Sal, overcome with shock, races off campus, leaving Phoebe behind her. She accidentally runs past the bus stop and finds herself at the hospital. On impulse, she asks the receptionist if she can see Mrs. Finney, Ben's mother. The woman informs her that Mrs. Finney is in the psychiatric ward, and only family members can visit her. She suggests Sal look for her on the back lawn. There, Sal finds Ben and his mother sitting on the lawn. Ben tries to introduce Sal to her, but she hardly seems to notice Sal, and even stands up and begins to walk absently around the lawn, reminding Sal of her mother after she lost the baby. Finally, Sal decides to leave, but her eyes meet Ben's, and the two lean forward to kiss each other.
Chapter 38: Spit
Sal finds a disgruntled or upset Phoebe waiting at the bus stop. Phoebe describes watching Mrs. Winterbottom and the lunatic sitting on the bench, laughing, and spitting into the grass, an act that disgusts Phoebe and causes her to decide that Mrs. Winterbottom does not need her after all. At home, Prudence tells Phoebe and Mr. Winterbottom that Mrs. Winterbottom has phoned, saying that she and a guest will come home the next day. Mr. Winterbottom becomes upset, demanding to know more about this guest, but Prudence only knows that the guest is a man. Phoebe storms into her room. That night, Sal tells her father about the developments in Phoebe's story and wishes that her mother, like Mrs. Winterbottom, would come back.
Chapter 39: Homecoming
The next day, Phoebe calls Sal, begging her to come over and be with her during Mrs. Winterbottom's return. Sal reluctantly agrees. At Phoebe's house, Mr. Winterbottom and Prudence are wracked with worry, fussing nervously over the house itself. Finally, Mrs. Winterbottom arrives at the door. She is a changed woman: she has a stylish short haircut, and she is wearing makeup and stylish, casual clothes. Behind her is Mike Bickle, the lunatic. Mrs. Winterbottom begins crying in confusion and anguish, and soon explains to her family that Mike is her son, whom she bore when she was young and whom she gave up for adoption. She is distraught that she is not as respectable as her family thinks, but Mr. Winterbottom repeatedly insists that he does not care about respectability. He is visibly upset, but graciously welcomes Mike into the family. Phoebe grabs Sal's arm and storms out, and the two girls almost collide with Mrs. Partridge, who is leaving a message on the front stoop.
Chapter 40: The Gifts
Sal and her grandparents reach Idaho, and Sal begins to believe that they will indeed reach Lewiston on the next day, her mother's birthday. Gram's voice and breathing sound troubled, and Sal and Gramps begin to worry about her. At Gram's prompting, Sal launches or starts into the end of Phoebe's story. On the stoop, Mrs. Partridge explains that she has been leaving the messages, which Margaret writes for her, out of a sense of fun. As Mrs. Partridge returns to her home, the two girls walk to the street. Gathering their courage, they spit into the street. Phoebe turns and walks back into her house, and Sal, following Phoebe's lead, turns and walks into Mrs. Cadaver's house. After Mrs. Cadaver tells Sal how she met her father, Sal returns home, where Ben is waiting for her. Ben has bought her a chicken, which he tells her, after kissing her, he has named Blackberry. Sal, having finished her story, sits back, but then worriedly notices how ill Gram looks. The car speeds toward Lewiston.
Chapter 41: The Overlook
Gram falls unconscious, and Sal and Gramps rush her to the hospital in Coeur D'Alene, where the doctors tell them that Gram has had a stroke. Despite the protests of the doctors, Gramps refuses to leave her side for even a second. Sal, reflecting on grandfather's emotions, wonders if he suspects the snakebite caused the stroke and blames himself for taking her to the river. Sal realizes then that just as Gramps should not blame himself for Gram's illness, she cannot blame herself for her mother's miscarriage. She then recalls the process through which their dog weaned her puppies: though the beagle was protective and caring when the puppies were first born, after a few months, she roughly pushed them away. Sal's mother had explained to Sal that the mother dog wanted her puppies to be able to take care of themselves in case something happened to her, and Sal realizes that in a way, her mother's trip to Lewiston was her way of trying to make Sal more able to take care of herself. Later that night, Gramps tells Sal that he must stay with Gram, but hands her the car keys and all his money, tacitly or not directly stating that he is giving her permission to drive to Lewiston herself.
Sal spends four hair-raising hours driving down to Lewiston. When she reaches the tall hill just outside the city, she creeps down the hairpin curves, finally stopping at an overlook. Another man stops and, pointing out the broken trees and a faintly glinting hunk of metal, begins to tell her about the terrible bus crash that took place a year ago in exactly that spot. He goes on to tell her that only one person survived the crash, but Sal already knows all this.