Walk Two Moons

Walking home from school one day, Phoebe presses Sal to warn her father about Mrs. Cadaver. When they arrive at Phoebe’s house, Mrs. Winterbottom offers Phoebe a brownie, but Phoebe complains that she’s already “too fat” before storming off (100). Sal accepts, thinking about how she had snapped at her own mother when she asked her to go for a walk just one day before she left. Prudence comes home complaining about the first day of cheerleading tryouts. Mrs. Winterbottom offers to come support her the next day, but Prudence retorts that that would make things worse. Phoebe then reappears with a new message: “In the course of a lifetime, what does it matter?” (102). Prudence continue to fret until Phoebe pointedly asks whether cheerleading is something that “matters.” As the girls bicker, Mrs. Winterbottom seems to come to some sort of realization. Sal returns home thinking about how a mother leaving is one of the things that truly does matter in life.

Sal explains that her father is Gram and Gramps’ sole surviving son. He’s an outdoorsy and unpretentious man who found the transition to office work difficult. He’s also, as his wife said, a naturally selfless and generous man who would often bring home surprises for Sugar and Sal: “They were small things—a cotton scarf, a book, a glass paperweight—but whatever he brought, it was exactly what you would have picked out for yourself” (106).

Sugar sometimes found her husband’s unwavering kindness difficult to bear, telling him it made her feel like a bad person; she went to Idaho in part because she felt she needed to learn more about who she truly was. When she didn’t return, John inscribed her name above the newly uncovered fireplace and decided to sell the farm. At Sal’s insistence, he agreed to rent it instead, but insisted on moving somewhere less reminiscent of his wife. By that point, he was in regular contact with Margaret Cadaver, but Sal wouldn’t allow him to explain how he met her. Sal admits that she too sometimes wishes her father were less good, so that she could hold him responsible for her mother’s departure.

Sal approaches her father about Mrs. Cadaver, explaining that she and Phoebe find Margaret suspicious, and that she thinks they should stop seeing her. Her father responds that Sal is “trying to catch fish in the air” (111)—making up fanciful stories to avoid dealing with the reality of her mother’s absence. In school, Sal observes Mr. Birkway and remains skeptical of Phoebe’s theory that he’s Mrs. Cadaver’s accomplice. In fact, he reminds her of her mother, who shared his interest in stories and often told her daughter Native American legends: “She knew about thunder gods, earth-makers, wise crows, sly coyotes, and shadow souls” (112). After class, Mr. Birkway asks Sal to write a mini journal. As Sal, Phoebe, Mary Lou, and Ben walk home that day, the “lunatic” appears and tries to talk to Phoebe. She and Sal race home, but find the door locked. When Mrs. Winterbottom finally lets them in, Phoebe says they should call the police, but her mother—though alarmed—simply relocks the house’s doors.

In her journal, Sal writes about a day when she saw her then pregnant mother strolling through the fields picking blackberries. When she drew close to a maple tree, she stopped and kissed its trunk. Sal inspected the tree later and even tried kissing it herself. She writes that since then, she has “kissed all different kinds of trees” (117), and that all taste slightly of blackberries. Sal hands in her journal the following day. After school, Ben approaches Sal and offers to read her palm. She nervously agrees, but after Ben has held her hand for several minutes, he admits that he can’t read palms; he informs her, however that she didn’t flinch the entire time they were touching. Sal refuses to speak to him afterwards, but he walks with her to Phoebe’s house regardless, kissing her ear as he says goodbye.

Phoebe ushers Sal inside and shows her several letters Mrs. Winterbottom left for her husband and daughters: She has apparently gone somewhere for a few days. Once Phoebe’s father and sister arrive home, the family discusses what to do. Phoebe thinks her mother has been kidnapped and wants to call the police, but her father points out that she wouldn’t have left notes if that were the case. Back at home that night, Sal tells her father tells that Phoebe’s mother has disappeared, and he reassures her, “People usually come back” (123). Sal takes this as confirmation that there’s a chance her own mother might return.