The Night Gardener

These chapters continue to develop the mystery of the supernatural elements in the house, as well as introducing more mundane threats that will later compound the dual dangers of the tree and Night Man. For example, the hole at the base of the tree in Chapter 7 is later discovered to be a grave. The worms that Penny feels are actually the tree’s roots trying to ensnare her. Mr. Windsor emerging from the locked room with coins foreshadows Molly’s later discovery of the knothole that grants people’s wishes, as well as how the tree’s gifts become a trap. Similarly, Penny’s books are later revealed to be gifts from the tree, and the books and coins combined show how much the family has come to depend on the tree in the short time since arriving at the house. For Mr. Windsor, the tree represents hope to get out of debt, as is implied by the conversation that Molly overhears. For Penny, the tree offers the hope that her life could return to the way it was before, and the books remind her of the relationship she used to have with her mother. Further foreshadowing is inherent in the Night Man’s first appearance in Chapter 12. Although Molly does not yet know who he is or what he’s doing, his very presence frightens her. Combined with the nightmares she experiences, the Night Man’s muddy footprints in her room reveal his habit of invading the sleeping family’s rooms each night, foreshadowing the children’s later discoveries of the evil purpose behind his unsettling actions.

The letter that Molly and Kip write to their parents foreshadows the ways in which they will soon become embroiled in the dangers of the tree. Molly desperately wishes that her parents were indeed alive and searching for her. In her fervent desire to pretend that their deaths never happened, she indulges in a problematic deception and tells stories even to herself, simulating a version of reality—both for herself and for her brother—in which her parents are alive and well. Given that the narration so far has already hinted at the fact that the tree grants wishes, the prominence of Molly’s own wish in the narrative foreshadows more trouble to come. Indeed, it will later be discovered that the tree senses such desires and endeavors to fulfill them, just as it provides Mr. Windsor with money and Penny with a library full of fanciful stories about herself.

In addition to the supernatural threats, these chapters introduce the dangers between the Windsors, Kip, and Molly, as well as the dangers that exist between the Windsors and the outside world. In Chapter 7, Alistair shows his bullying nature by burying Penny in the hole and later threatening Kip. Having been pushed around his entire life, Kip hates seeing Alistair torture Penny, and Kip’s decision to stand up to Alistair begins the external conflict between the two boys that persists until the climactic sequence. In a mirror of this children’s quarrel, Chapter 13 introduces the adult antagonists Fig and Stubbs, men from whom Mr. Windsor borrowed money that he later lost in bad investments. In their very first appearance in the novel, Fig and Stubbs make it clear that they are not shy about using violence to collect the money owed to them, and thus Chapter 13 foreshadows Fig and Stubbs’s later return.

In Chapter 8, Molly and Kip meet Mr. Windsor for the first time, and while he, too, is a threat to the Irish siblings, it is not a physical threat like those of Alistair, Fig, and Stubbs. Instead, his status as head of the Windsor family emphasizes that he holds the power to fire them at any time. This reality especially upsets Kip, who observes that Mr. Windsor stutters and seems fearful of everything; Kip resents this fact because he doesn’t understand why some people get to be rich and important when they are little different from others who have neither prestige nor money. Molly’s reply that Kip should know what it’s like to be disregarded refers to Kip’s disability. Thus, she points out to Kip that when he disregards Mr. Windsor because of his stutter, he does not realize that he’s doing the same thing to Mr. Windsor that others have done to him.