Battle of the Books
Questions and Answers for Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
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Where did Sal live for most of her life? In Bybanks, Kentucky.
Where did Sal move to a year ago? Euclid, Ohio.
Where did they go first when they got to Euclid? To Margaret’s house.
What was Sal looking for as she surveyed her new neighborhood? The barn,
swimming hole and river.
5. Why did Sal want to go back? Because she left something in her closet under the
floorboards.
6. Who did Sal see in the window of the house next to Margaret’s? Phoebe
Winterbottom.
7. What was behind the plaster wall that Sal’s dad knocked down in their house in
Kentucky? An old fireplace.
8. What was behind Phoebe’s story? Sal’s story.
9. Where did Sal’s grandparents come from? Kentucky.
10. Why did they come to Ohio? To pick up Sal and take her to Lewiston, Idaho.
11. What was Sal’s grandparents’ nickname for Sal? Chickabiddy.
12. How old was Sal? Thirteen.
13. Why were they going to Lewiston? To see Sal’s momma and to give her dad
some time with Margaret. Also, Sal was supposed to keep Gram and Gramps out
of trouble along the way.
14. Whose parents were Gram and Gramps? Sal’s dad’s parents.
15. Why did Sal want to hurry to get to Idaho? Because she wanted to get there by
her mother’s birthday, so maybe she could bring her home.
16. Did Gram, Gramps and Dad think Sal would be able to bring Momma home? No.
17. How much time did they have to get to Lewiston by her birthday? Seven days.
18. What was Sal’s real name? Salamanca Tree Hiddle.
19. Why was she named Salamanca? Because her mom had Indian blood in her, and
she thought she was of the Salamanca tribe. But it was really the Seneca tribe.
20. Why was her middle name tree? Because her mother loved trees.
21. What did Gram and Gramps ask Sal to do as they started their trip? Tell them a
story.
22. Whose story did Sal tell? Phoebe’s.
23. Who was Mrs. Partridge? Margaret’s mother.
24. Why hadn’t Sal’s dad told Sal how he met Margaret? He said he had tried, but
that Sal didn’t want to hear it.
25. How did her new house compare to Sal’s old house? It was much smaller, with
very little “nature.” There was a little grass, but no cows, chickens, swimming
hole, etc.
26. When did Sal see Phoebe again? At school.
27. What did Sal do at school that made people think she was brave? She took a
spider in her hands and put it out the open window.
28. What were Sal’s parents like? They were very proper and respectable, and they
rarely laughed.
29. What was Sal’s mom’s name? Chanhassen, an Indian name meaning “Tree Sweet
Juice” (maple sugar).
30. What did people call Sal’s mom? Sugar.
31. Why did Sal go to Phoebe’s house? Because Phoebe invited her over for dinner.
32. Who did they see as they were heading there? Mrs. Partridge.
33. What did Mrs. Partridge do to Phoebe? She put her hands all over her face, and
then proclaimed her to be thirteen years old.
34. How did Phoebe’s dad feel about the man at the carnival guessing that he was
fifty-two? He was upset, because he was only thirty-eight.
35. What was Mrs. Winterbottom making? A blackberry pie.
36. Why didn’t Sal want to eat it? Because blackberries reminded her of her mother.
37. Why did Sal think it was remarkable that Mrs. Partridge so accurately guessed
Phoebe’s age? Because Mrs. Partridge was blind.
38. Why was Phoebe scared of Margaret? Because her last name was “Cadaver,”
meaning “dead body.” Also, she thought Margaret’s hair and voice were spooky.
She also had suspicions about what had happened to Mr. Cadaver.
39. What did Gram call Phoebe? “Peeby.”
40. Who did Phoebe remind Gram of? Gloria, who told her not to marry Gramps, but
only because she herself wanted to date Gramps.
41. Why did Gram and Gramps get arrested in Washington, D.C.? Because they got a
flat tire and “borrowed” some tires from a senator’s car.
42. What did Gramps see when they pulled over at a rest stop? A woman who looked
like she had some car trouble.
43. What did Gramps do for her? He took apart much of her engine, without fixing
anything.
44. How long did it take? Two hours.
45. Why did Phoebe’s parents remind Sal of her mother’s parents, the Pickfords?
Because they were so proper and polite.
46. What was the Winterbottoms’ diet like? They ate very healthy: no meat, no butter,
etc.
47. What impression did Sal get of Mrs. Winterbottom? She thought she was sad and
unfulfilled. No one seemed to appreciate what she did, or even respond to her
comments.
48. How old was Phoebe’s sister? Prudence was seventeen.
49. What did Phoebe think had happened to Mr. Cadaver? She thought Mrs. Cadaver
had killed him, chopped him up and buried him in her backyard.
50. Why did Sal’s mom cry when her husband gave her a flower at the breakfast
table? Because he was so nice and good, and she felt guilty that she wasn’t as
nice and good as he was.
51. What did she do the next day to try to be good? She picked fresh blackberries for
them.
52. Which state did Gram forget that they had driven through? Indiana.
53. What body of water did they see in Illinois? Lake Michigan.
54. What did Gram say as they dipped their feet in Lake Michigan? “Huzza, huzza.”
55. What were Sal’s emotions like when her mother was with her? She was happy if
her mother was happy and sad if her mother was sad.
56. What did Sal realize after her mother left, when she saw a calf trying to learn to
walk? She realized she could be happy on her own, without her mother.
57. What route were they going to take to get to Idaho? They were going from
Illinois to Wisconsin, then on to Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana,
and into Idaho.
58. What did Gramps want to see in South Dakota? The Badlands and the Black
Hills.
59. What was Gramps’ nickname for Gram? Gooseberry.
60. What did Phoebe have to do before she and Sal could go to Mary Lou’s house?
She had to check that all the windows and doors were locked, although her
mother had already done so before she left earlier.
61. Who came to the door just as they were leaving? A teenage boy.
62. Who did he ask to see? Phoebe’s mom.
63. What did Phoebe say to that request? First she said that her mom was busy, and
then she said she’d gone out.
64. What did the boy do then? He asked about Phoebe, said he had no message, and
then left.
65. What did Phoebe think about him? She thought he was a lunatic who wanted to
kill them.
66. Why did Ben and Mary Lou live together, although they weren’t siblings?
Because they were cousins, and Ben was living with Mary Lou’s family
temporarily.
67. What was it like at the Finneys’ house? It was crazy. There were many kids and
they were very rambunctious.
68. What did Phoebe think of the Finneys? She thought they were uncivilized
because they let their kids act crazy and they liked to play with them.
69. What did Ben like to do in his spare time? He drew a lot.
70. What did he do when Mary Lou and Phoebe left the room? He kissed her on the
collarbone.
71. What was Mrs. Winterbottom doing when Phoebe and Sal returned to Phoebe’s
house? She looked like she was crying.
72. What did Phoebe tell her then? She told her about the “lunatic” who had come by
asking questions before they left for the Finneys’ house.
73. Did Mrs. Winterbottom want to tell Mr. Winterbottom about the lunatic? No.
74. What did they find on the front porch when they went outside? An envelope with
a piece of paper inside, on which was written, “Don’t judge a man until you’ve
walked two moons in his moccasins.”
75. How did Mrs. Winterbottom feel about this? She was very worried about it.
76. Where did Gram and Gramps and Sal stop next? In Madison, Wisconsin.
77. What was Gramps’ excuse for taking the other man’s parking spot and not leaving
money in the parking meter? That he was a WWII vet with German shrapnel in
his leg.
78. Was that true? No.
79. What did Sal hear in the wind? Rush, hurry, rush.
80. Why did she want to rush? Because she wanted to get to Lewiston in time for her
mother’s birthday.
81. Why didn’t Sal want to send her father a postcard? Because it reminded her too
much of the postcards her mom had sent during her trip out west.
82. Where did they stop next? The Wisconsin Dells.
83. What did Gramps do while Sal and Gram walked around? He took a nap.
84. What did Sal think had happened when she woke up from her nap? She thought
that Gram and Gramps had abandoned her in Wisconsin.
85. Where had Gram gone? She had gone to dance with the Indians.
86. Why had Sal thought that Gram and Gramps had left her? Because ever since her
mother had left, she had thought that everyone would leave her eventually.
87. What was the next message that Phoebe got? “Everyone has his own agenda.”
88. What did Phoebe think of the messages? She was very nervous about them. She
thought they were spooky.
89. What did the first message mean? It meant that you shouldn’t judge a person until
you know what it’s like to be them.
90. Who did the kids see at the drugstore? The “lunatic.”
91. Who ran up behind Phoebe and Sal on their way home? Ben.
92. What word did he ask the girls not to use in reference to the strange teen? He
asked them not to call him a “lunatic.”
93. What observation did Ben make about Sal? That she flinched whenever anyone
touched her.
94. What did Ben do for Mrs. Cadaver when they got to Phoebe’s house? He helped
her carry some packages and bags into the house.
95. Did Phoebe think he should help her? No, she thought Mrs. Cadaver was
dangerous and creepy.
96. What did the second message mean, “Everyone has his own agenda”? It meant
that people were concerned about their own lives and problems, not others’.
97. How did Gramps lose a tooth? He got into a fight with his best friend when his
best friend asked him where his father was.
98. Where did Gram, Gramps and Sal stop next? In Pipestone, Minnesota.
99. What did they see there? They saw American Indians making pipes out of stone
at a quarry.
100. What did Gramps say every night when he and Gram went to bed? He said,
“Well, this ain’t our marriage bed, but it will do.”
101. What questions did Gram ask Gramps before she agreed to marry him? She
asked him if he had a dog, and how he treated the dog, and how the dog reacted to
him.
102. Why did she ask those questions? She figured if the dog loved Gramps that
much, then he’d be all right for her, too.
103. What did Gramps’ dad and brothers do while Gram and Gramps were at their
wedding reception? They moved Gramps’ parents’ bed into Gram and Gramps’ new
house.
104. What did Gramps call that bed? Their marriage bed.
105. Who was Mr. Birkway? Sal’s English teacher.
106. What was he like? He was very energetic, enthusiastic and encouraging.
107. What did Mr. Birkway collect on the first day of school? Everyone’s summer
journals.
108. Why was Sal worried? Because she did not have a summer journal, since she
was new.
109. Why was the rest of the class worried? Because they didn’t want Mr. Birkway to
read their journals.
110. Who came to Mrs. Cadaver’s house when Phoebe and Sal were alone at
Phoebe’s one day? Mr. Birkway.
111. What were Mr. Birkway and Mrs. Cadaver doing? It looked like they were
doing yard work: trimming trees and bushes and moving a rhododendron plant.
112. What did Phoebe think they were doing? Hiding the burial site of Mr. Cadaver.
113. Why didn’t Sal like it that her father spent time with Margaret? She thought her
house was creepy, with swords, masks and weird books, and when her father was
there, she felt like he wasn’t thinking about her mom, which was upsetting to her.
114. What did Mrs. Winterbottom look like when she got home? She looked upset,
like she had been crying.
115. What did Sal’s dad give Sal when she got home? A sweater that Margaret had
gotten her for a present.
116. What did Sal do with it? She just left it in the box.
117. What did Sal’s dad say? He wanted to tell her something about Margaret.
118. What did Sal say? She didn’t want to hear it.
119. What was the weather like in South Dakota? It was very hot.
120. Where did Sal, Gram and Gramps stop next? They stopped near the Missouri
River to take a dip.
121. What was Sal’s hair like? It was black and very long.
122. What was Sal’s mother’s hair like? It had been the same as Sal’s, but she cut it
right before she left for Idaho.
123. Who showed up as they were swimming in the river? A teenage boy, who went
through their clothes and told them they were trespassing on private property.
124. What did Gramps tell Sal to do then? She threw a sharp rock right into the
knothole of a tree, sort of as a warning.
125. What happened then? Gram was bitten by a water moccasin, a poisonous snake.
126. What did they do then? They took Gram out of the water and tried to suck the
venom out of her leg.
127. What did the boy do? He sucked on Gram’s leg and rode with them to the
hospital, giving directions as to how to get there.
128. What did they do that night? They spent the night at the hospital.
129. What did Gramps try to give the boy? Fifty dollars.
130. What did the boy give Sal in the morning before they left the hospital? His
address.
131. What was the boy’s name? Tom Fleet.
132. What was the Singing Tree? It was a tree near Sal’s house in Kentucky where
the birds sang the most beautiful songs, although Sal could never actually see the
birds.
133. What happened after Sal found out her mother wasn’t coming back from Idaho?
The Singing Tree stopped singing.
134. What happened outside the hospital that made Sal think of the Singing Tree?
She heard beautiful birdsongs, just like in Kentucky.
135. What new whispers did Sal hear as they traveled toward the Badlands? Instead
of hurry, hurry, rush, rush, she heard slow down, slow down.
136. What did Phoebe think might happen to Sal’s father if he kept hanging around
with Margaret? She would chop him up.
137. What did Sal say she would do if that happened? Go live with her mother.
138. Could she do that? No, but she said she would anyway. She didn’t want to
explain to Phoebe the story of her mother.
139. What happened between Sal and her mother right before her mother left? Her
mother kept asking her to go for a walk with her, but Sal refused to go.
140. How did Sal feel about that now? She felt bad that she was mean to her mother
before she left.
141. Why was Prudence upset? She wanted to make cheerleading but she didn’t feel
she had done well at tryouts.
142. Did Prudence want her mother to come watch tryouts? No.
143. What was the new message that was on the Winterbottoms’ front porch? “In
the course of a lifetime, what does it matter?”
144. What happened to Sal’s dad’s brothers? They all died in tragic accidents.
145. What was Sal’s dad like? He was kind, honest, simple and good.
146. What did Sal’s dad like to do for a living? He liked working with his hands,
especially on the farm.
147. Why did Sal’s mother leave? She felt she couldn’t be as good as Sal’s dad, and
she wanted to clear her head and heart of all the bad things she was feeling. She
needed to figure out who she was, rather than who she wasn’t.
148. Why couldn’t Sal’s mother take Sal with her? She said that Sal couldn’t miss
school, her father needed her to stay with him, and she needed to go alone.
149. Did Sal’s mother tell her when she was leaving? No, she just left her a letter and
told her she would think about her and be back before the tulips bloomed.
150. What did Sal’s father do after he finished chipping away at the plaster that was
hiding the fireplace? He wrote Sal’s mother’s name, “Chanhassen,” in the cement.
151. Did Sal know how or when Sal’s father had met Margaret? No.
152. How did Sal react to the news that they were moving to Euclid, Ohio? She threw
major temper tantrums and refused to move.
153. Did Sal’s father sell their farm? No, he just rented it out, so they could return to
it one day.
154. Why did Sal’s father say they had to move? Because he was haunted by Sal’s
mother at the farm; everything reminded him of her.
155. Why did Sal stop throwing tantrums about moving? She got too tired to
continue.
156. What did Sal’s father think when Sal tried to warn him about Margaret? He
thought she was jealous of Margaret, and he assured Sal that her mother was not
going to return.
157. What did Sal hope would happen with Mr. Birkway and Margaret? She hoped
they would fall in love and get married to her father would stop spending time with
Margaret.
158. Who did Mr. Birkway remind Sal of? Her mother, before she became so sad.
159. Why did Mr. Birkway want to see Sal after class? He wanted to give her a
journal to complete, since she hadn’t done a summer journal.
160. Who did Phoebe and Sal see on the way home from school? The “lunatic.”
161. What did they do? They ran to Phoebe’s house without talking to him.
162. What did Sal write about in her journal? The Blackberry Kiss.
163. What did Sal watch her mother do the day of the Blackberry Kiss? She saw her
eat some blackberries, and then she hugged and kissed the sugar maple tree.
164. What did Sal do later? She also hugged and kissed the sugar maple; she thought
she could see a purple stain from a blackberry mouth, and taste a slight hint of
blackberries.
165. What had Sal done many times since that day? She had kissed many different
kinds of trees.
166. What did they taste like? They all tasted a little bit different, but always with a
taste of blackberry.
167. What did Ben do as he walked home from school with Sal? He pretended to
read her palm.
168. What did Ben do before he left Phoebe’s house? He kissed Sal’s ear.
169. Where was Phoebe’s mother when Sal got to Phoebe’s house? She had left for a
few days.
170. What did Phoebe think? She wanted to call the police, because she was sure she
had been kidnapped.
171. What was Sal’s father doing when Sal got home? He was looking at the photo
album, at pictures of him and Sal’s mother.
172. What did Sal’s father say when Sal told him that Phoebe’s mother had gone
away? He said, “People usually come back.”
173. How was Phoebe at school the next day? She was quiet and seemed like she was
trying not to cry.
174. What happened when Mr. Birkway had his class draw a picture of their souls?
Ben and Phoebe drew the same thing: a maple leaf inside a circle.
175. What happened when Sal spent the night at Phoebe’s house? She didn’t get
much sleep because Phoebe was so jumpy.
176. What did Phoebe’s dad think Phoebe was doing the next morning? Malingering,
meaning pretending to be sick in order to get out of school.
177. How were things at Phoebe’s house with her mother gone? Everyone was out
of sorts. There was no breakfast made, clothes were wrinkled, and no one could find
what they needed.
178. Where did Phoebe tell her friend that her mother was? On a business trip to
London.
179. What did Phoebe do after school? She searched her house for clues that the
lunatic had been there and had kidnapped her mother.
180. What kind of “fishes in the air” did Sal imagine when her mother didn’t come
back? She thought maybe she had cancer and didn’t want to tell them, or maybe she
had amnesia and couldn’t remember who she was.
181. What “clues” did Phoebe find? She found strange stains which she thought
might be bloodstains and suspicious hairs.
182. Why was Prudence excited when she got home from school? Because she had
made the cheerleading squad.
183. What had Phoebe’s mother left in the freezer? A bunch of frozen casseroles with
notes as to how to cook them.
184. What did her dad think about Phoebe’s kidnapping theory? He thought if she
was kidnapped, she wouldn’t have had time to make and label so many casseroles.
185. What did Mr. Winterbottom do after dinner? He called Mrs. Winterbottom’s
friends to see if they knew where she had gone.
186. Who did Sal see when she left the Winterbottoms’ house? Her dad was having
dinner with Mrs. Cadaver.
187. Did she go in? No, she wanted to go home and work on her English paper.
188. How did Sal’s mom get to Lewiston, Idaho? She went on a bus.
189. Why did she go there? Because she had a cousin there that she wanted to see.
190. What were the Badlands like? They were a mass of steep hills and deep valleys
amidst such flat land of South Dakota.
191. How was Gram feeling? Not too well. She couldn’t breathe well, and she had
very little energy.
192. How did Sal feel about pregnant women? She was scared of them.
193. How did Sal feel when she first found out that her mom was pregnant? She
wondered why they needed another kid. Wasn’t she enough?
194. How did Sal feel as the baby grew inside her mom? She was very excited.
195. What happened to Sal soon before her mom was due to give birth? She climbed
a tree, but the branch snapped, and she fell out of the tree. She broke her leg.
196. Who found her? Her mother, who carried her back to the house.
197. What happened that night? The baby was born, but she died.
198. What happened to her mother after that? She started bleeding and had to go to
the hospital for surgery. After that, she couldn’t have any more children.
199. What did they name the baby? Tulip.
200. Why did Sal’s mother tell her that she could make a rock float? Because she was
so good at skipping rocks.
201. Who was the egg man? A man who delivered eggs to Gram and Gramps; Gram
ran off and stayed with him for a few days when she got tired of Gramps’ bad
language.
202. Why did she finally come back to Gramps? Because he promised to stop
swearing.
203. What was different about the hotel where they stayed in Wall, South Dakota? It
had a water bed in it.
204. Where did they head for the next day? The Black Hills and Mount Rushmore.
205. What was the next message Phoebe found on her front porch? “You can’t keep
the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting
in your hair.”
206. Who did Ben report on for his mythology assignment? Prometheus.
207. Where did Phoebe and Sal go for dinner that night? To Mary Lou Finney’s
house.
208. What was the atmosphere like there? It was very chaotic, because of all the
people who lived there.
209. What did they have for dinner? Fried chicken.
210. What did Phoebe think of that? She did not approve, and she made her feelings
quite clear. She lectured everyone on the dangers of cholesterol, which could be
found in such items as fried chicken and butter.
211. What did Phoebe have for dinner? Muesli with milk.
212. What did Sal think of the atmosphere at the Finneys’? She liked the confusion;
she thought it was friendly.
213. What was Phoebe’s father doing when they got to her house? He was wearing a
frilly apron and washing the dishes.
214. How was Phoebe behaving when she came to Sal’s for the weekend? She was
being picky and critical.
215. Why did Sal think she was behaving like that? Because she was upset that her
mother was gone.
216. What did Phoebe say a person should do for a guest? Make sacrifices, by giving
the guest the best of everything.
217. How did Sal feel about Phoebe that day? She hated her, because she was being
so difficult.
218. Why did Mr. and Mrs. Finney remind Sal of her parents before the bad things
started happening? Because they were so loving towards each other.
219. Where was Mary Lou? On a date with Alex.
220. Who did Phoebe’s mother call while Phoebe was at Sal’s house? Mrs. Cadaver.
221. What did Mrs. Cadaver say in the note she left for Phoebe’s family? She said
that Mrs. Winterbottom had called to say she was ok, and that she (Margaret) would
be away until Monday.
222. What did Phoebe think? She thought Mrs. Cadaver was making it up, and had
actually kidnapped and killed Mrs. Winterbottom.
223. What compromise did she reach with her father? That if they hadn’t heard from
Phoebe’s mother by Wednesday, that they would call the police.
224. How did Phoebe insult Ben when she gave her mythology report? She said that
he had been wrong about Pandora, and that Pandora had been a reward for humans
from Zeus, not a punishment.
225. How did the story of Pandora explain why there are evils in the world? Because
the gods gave Pandora many gifts, one of which was a box which she was instructed
not to open. But because she was curious, she opened it, and out came all sorts of bad
things, like sickness, fear, war and hatred.
226. What was the one good thing that was in the box? Hope.
227. What did Sal think had changed her family from a happy one to a sad one? The
death of the baby.
228. Did Sal think it was Phoebe’s fault that her mother had gone away? No.
229. What did this realization mean to Sal? Maybe it wasn’t her fault either that her
mother had gone away.
230. Why did Sal want to skip going to the Black Hills? Because the whispers were
saying, “hurry, hurry, rush, rush,” and she didn’t want to take the time to stop; she
felt she’d spent too much time in South Dakota.
231. Why didn’t Sal run off and try to hitch a ride with “someone who drove fast”?
Because she was afraid of speeding down the curvy roads that led into Lewiston,
Idaho.
232. How had Sal learned to drive? Gramps had taught her to drive his pickup
around the farm in Kentucky.
233. What happened to Sal’s desire to drive after Momma left? She was afraid to
drive and to ride in cars.
234. Why were the Black Hills really dark green? They were covered with pine trees,
which made them appear green to Sal.
235. What did the Black Hills mean to the Sioux Indians? The land was holy to them.
236. Where did Gramps want to stop next? At Yellowstone, to see Old Faithful.
237. Why did the poem about the traveler upset Sal? Because she thought it was
horrible that the sea grabbed the traveler and he or she died.
238. Why did the poem upset Phoebe? She thought it was a murder.
239. Where did they go right after English class? They went to the police station to
talk to the police about Phoebe’s mother’s disappearance.
240. What was the policeman’s name that Phoebe and Sal talked to? Sergeant Bickle.
241. What did Sgt. Bickle’s mouth do as Phoebe told him about the messages and the
“clues”? It twitched, as if he was trying not to smile.
242. What did Sal want to look at on Sgt. Bickle’s desk? His framed photos.
243. Who did Sgt. Bickle call when he left the room? Phoebe’s father.
244. Who did Phoebe’s father go see when they got home? Mrs. Cadaver.
245. What did Phoebe’s father do when Phoebe said, “Mom loves me, and she would
not leave me without any explanation.”? He started to cry.
246. Why did Sal like Phoebe? Because she thought she was a lot like her, although
Sal didn’t act out as she might sometimes want to, and Phoebe did.
247. Why did Phoebe call Sal late at night? She knew Mrs. Cadaver was at work, and
she wanted to snoop around her house. She wanted Sal to go with her.
248. Who was already in the house when the girls got in there? Mrs. Partridge,
Margaret’s mother.
249. How was Mrs. Partridge reading if it was so dark in the room? She was blind, so
she didn’t need light. She was reading Braille.
250. How did Mrs. Partridge know who the girls were, before they said anything?
From the sound of their shoes and the way they smelled.
251. What was spooky about Margaret’s house? She had all kinds of weird artifacts,
such as swords and masks, and creepy murder mysteries on her bookshelves. It was
also strange how Mrs. Partridge could tell what they were doing or looking at, even
though she was blind.
252. What did Mrs. Partridge say to Phoebe as the girls were leaving? She told her
she met her brother, which was strange, because Phoebe didn’t have a brother.
253. What did Sal have in her dresser that belonged to her mother? A shawl, a
sweater and the yellow dress.
254. What did Sal do that night? She couldn’t sleep. She just lay there and thought
about Phoebe’s mother, her mother, and the poem about the traveler.
255. What did she say to Phoebe the next morning when she called her? She told her
that they had to find Phoebe’s mother.
256. What was the next message Phoebe found on her porch? It said, “We never
know the worth of water until the well is dry.”
257. What did Phoebe think the message meant? That her mother was hidden in a
well.
258. What did Sal try to do to Ben when she saw him? She tried to kiss him.
259. Was she glad she had missed him? Yes.
260. What did Mr. Birkway do in class that day? He read portions of people’s
journals out loud, changing names to try to protect the authors’ identities.
261. What did Mr. Birkway say when people acted like they were sick and had to
leave class? “Let’s not malinger.”
262. Did people in the class know who had written what, and about whom the author
was writing, even though he changed the names? Yes.
263. How did people react? Those who had been the subjects of others’ journals
were very angry.
264. Where did Sal and Phoebe go next? To the police station again.
265. Was Sgt. Bickle willing to investigate Phoebe’s clues? No.
266. Whose picture was on Sgt. Bickle’s desk? The “lunatic.” He must have been
Sgt. Bickle’s son.
267. To whom did Sal pray that night in Yellowstone? To the elm tree outside the
hotel.
268. For what did she pray? She prayed that they wouldn’t get into an accident, that
they would get to Lewiston by her mom’s birthday, and that they would be able to
bring her home.
269. Who wrote Gram her only love letter? The egg man.
270. Where did Sal go after she saw the lunatic’s picture on the policeman’s desk?
To Phoebe’s house.
271. Who did she see outside? Mrs. Partridge.
272. Who came to pick up Mrs. Partridge? Mr. Birkway, whom Mrs. Partridge called
“Jimmy.”
273. Why was Mr. Birkway there? He was Mrs. Cadaver’s twin brother and Mrs.
Partridge’s son.
274. How did Phoebe behave the next day at school? She ignored Sal, so Sal couldn’t
tell her what she had learned the day before.
275. Why was Sal disappointed that Mr. Birkway and Mrs. Cadaver were twins?
Because it meant that they wouldn’t be falling in love and going away together.
276. What happened in English class that day? Mr. Birkway read more from people’s
private journals.
277. What part of Sal’s journal did he read that day? About the blackberry kiss.
278. What upset Mr. Birkway about Phoebe’s journal? She had written about Mrs.
Cadaver and how she thought she had killed her husband.
279. Who came over to Phoebe’s house that night? Sal was there, and then Mr.
Birkway came over.
280. Why did he apologize? For reading Phoebe’s journal out loud.
281. What did he tell her about Margaret? That she was his sister, and that her
husband had been killed in a car accident that had also blinded her mother (Mrs.
Partridge), and that she had been working as a nurse that night that her husband and
mother were brought in to the hospital.
282. What did he say about Phoebe’s mother? That she had not been kidnapped or
murdered by Margaret.
283. Why did Sal feel like she really had to hurry when she woke up at the hotel in
Yellowstone? Because it was the day before her mother’s birthday.
284. Why was Gram excited? She had waited her whole life to see Old Faithful.
285. Why did Gram try to climb under the rope that was around Old Faithful? She
wanted a better look at it.
286. What did Gram think Old Faithful looked like? An upside-down waterfall.
287. What did Gram say as she was getting her face misted by the geyser? “Huzza,
huzza.”
288. Why did Gram cry as they got into the car? Because she was so happy that she
had seen Old Faithful.
289. What were the roads like in Montana? They were mountain roads, so they were
very twisting and dangerous.
290. How did Sal fell about it? She was amazed by the scenery, but she was also
scared of going over a cliff.
291. What was Phoebe and Sal’s plan? To track down Sgt. Bickle’s son and find out
what he knew about Phoebe’s mother.
292. What was Phoebe afraid of at that point? That her mother might be dead.
293. What did Mr. Birkway say when people asked him to read more about the
murder, from the journal? He said no, and he apologized for reading people’s secret
feelings out loud and hurting their feelings.
294. What did Sal and Phoebe do when they got to Phoebe’s house? They called
every Bickle in the phone book, trying to find Sgt. Bickle’s son.
295. What was Phase Two of the plan? To call Sgt. Bickle’s house and ask to speak
to his son.
296. Where did Sgt. Bickle say his son was? At school.
297. What was his son’s name? Mike.
298. Where did Phoebe and Sal go the next day? To the university where Mike went
to school.
299. Who did they see at the bus stop? Ben.
300. Where was he going? To the hospital near the university.
301. How did Sal feel when she was with Ben? She was nervous; her brain buzzed
and her blood roared.
302. Where did Mike live? In a freshman dormitory at the university.
303. How did they find out his room? Sal said she was his cousin, and a man at the
desk told her his room number.
304. Why didn’t they go up to his room right away? Because they were too scared.
They went outside for a few minutes.
305. What did they see on a bench outside? Phoebe’s mother was kissing Mike and
holding his hand.
306. What did Sal do then? She ran away, to the hospital.
307. Who was Ben there to see? His mother.
308. What was his mother like? She seemed to be in her own world, never
acknowledging that Ben and Sal were there.
309. What did Ben ask Sal after they kissed? “Did it taste a little like blackberries to
you?”
310. Where did Sal see Phoebe again? Back at the bus stop.
311. What had changed about Phoebe’s mother, that Phoebe noticed as she watched
her and Mike on the bench? She had cut her hair, and she had spit on the ground,
which she normally would never have done.
312. How did Phoebe feel about these changes? She was very upset and angry.
313. What news did Prudence have when Sal and Phoebe got to Phoebe’s house?
That their mom was coming home.
314. What other message did her mother leave? She asked Prudence to tell Mr.
Winterbottom not to make any prejudgments, and she said she was bringing someone
with her.
315. Did Phoebe tell Mr. Winterbottom what she and Sal had seen that day? No, but
she assumed that her mother was bringing Mike home.
316. Why didn’t Sal tell her father everything that had happened when she got home?
Because Margaret was there.
317. What did Prudence and Mr. Winterbottom do the night before Mrs.
Winterbottom was coming home? They cleaned the whole house, and then they
messed it up a little bit so she wouldn’t think they didn’t need her.
318. Why was Phoebe’s dad mad at Phoebe? Because she wouldn’t help them.
319. Why did Sal agree to go over to Phoebe’s for Mrs. Winterbottom’s
homecoming? Because she felt bad about running away the day before at the
university.
320. Where did Phoebe and Mr. Winterbottom go when Mrs. Winterbottom’s taxi
pulled up? Into the kitchen.
321. What did Mr. Winterbottom think when he heard Mrs. Winterbottom introduce
Prudence to Mike? He thought she was leaving him to be with Mike.
322. How did Mrs. Winterbottom look? She looked much better, more stylish and
young, but she looked completely different.
323. How did Prudence react to Mike? She thought he was handsome and began
flirting with him.
324. Why did Sal think it would be weird if Mrs. Winterbottom was in love with
Mike? Because he was so young, only a little bit older than Prudence.
325. What was the big secret that Mrs. Winterbottom had been hiding? That Mike
was her son, whom she had put up for adoption many years ago.
326. Why did Mrs. Winterbottom think Mr. Winterbottom would be angry with her?
Because what she had done wasn’t respectable – having a baby out of wedlock.
327. Why was Mr. Winterbottom really angry with her? Because she had kept such a
secret from him for so long. He didn’t care whether she was respectable.
328. What did Mr. Winterbottom do to show Mike he accepted him? He shook his
hand and said he’d always wanted another male in the family.
329. Who was still angry with Mrs. Winterbottom? Phoebe was.
330. What did Sal and Phoebe see as they opened the Winterbottoms’ front door?
Mrs. Partridge was laying a new message on their porch. She was the one who had
been leaving the secret messages.
331. Where were Sal and Gram and Gramps going to stay that night? In Coeur
d’Alene, Idaho, which was only 100 miles from Lewiston.
332. What was wrong with Gram? She seemed tired.
333. What was the message that Mrs. Partridge was trying to leave on the porch?
“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” That was a
message she had left before.
334. Where did Mrs. Partridge get these messages? Out of the newspaper. When
there was one she liked, she had Margaret copy it down to give her.
335. Why was Mrs. Partridge leaving them for the Winterbottoms? She wanted to
leave them surprises, like fortune cookies.
336. How did Mrs. Partridge know that Mike was Phoebe’s brother? When he came
to her house by mistake, she felt his face, and she could feel the similarity to Phoebe.
337. Who did Sal go see when she left Phoebe’s house? Margaret.
338. What did she learn from her? How Margaret had met her father, which made
her sad, but she was glad once she knew the truth.
339. Why was Ben at Sal’s house when she got home? He had brought her a chicken
named Blackberry.
340. How did Gram look as they traveled to Coeur d’Alene? Gray, like she wasn’t
feeling well.
341. Where did Gramps go when they got to the city? To the hospital.
342. What was wrong with Gram? She had had a stroke.
343. As she played with the beagle outside the hospital, what did Sal think about
cause and effect? She wondered if the snake bite had caused Gram’s stroke, and she
wondered if her mother carrying her from the tree when she broke her leg had caused
the baby in her mom’s belly to die.
344. Why did Gramps give Sal the keys and money in the hospital? He didn’t say it,
but he wanted her to drive to Lewiston to see her mother.
345. Was Sal nervous to drive to Lewiston? Yes, but she had to do it.
346. What was the road like that she was driving on? It was a narrow, winding road.
347. Where did Sal stop? She stopped right outside of Lewiston, at an overlook at the
top of a mountain.
348. What was she looking for? A bus over the guard rail.
349. Could she see the bus? No.
350. Where did she drive to then? She drove to another pull-off about halfway down
the hill.
351. Who pointed out the bus to her? Another traveler who had pulled over.
352. What did he say had happened there? A bus had skidded off the road and fallen
over the cliff, and only one person had survived the crash.
353. What did Sal do when the man left? She climbed over the guardrail and down
the embankment to look at the bus.
354. What time of day was it? The sun was about to come up.
355. What was Sal going to try to do? She wanted to climb into the bus and look
around.
356. Why couldn’t she do that? The seats were all torn out and the inside of the bus
was all moldy. There was no way for her to get inside it.
357. Who was parked behind Gramps’ car when Sal got back up to the top? The
sheriff.
358. Why did he ask where the others were? He could tell she was too young to
drive, and so someone else had to be with her.
359. Where did Sal think the sheriff was going to take her? To jail.
360. Where did he take her instead? He took her through the city of Lewiston, to the
cemetery where Sal’s mother was buried.
361. What engraving was on her tombstone? A maple tree.
362. What did Sal know when she saw the grave? That her mother was not, could
not, come back home.
363. What did Sal hear in the tree? A bird singing a sweet birdsong.
364. What did she say to her mother? “Happy Birthday.”
365. Where did the sheriff take Sal then? To the hospital in Coeur d’Alene.
366. What did the sheriff lecture her about? Not driving without a license.
367. What was Mrs. Cadaver’s relation to Sal’s mother? She was sitting next to her
mother on the bus, but Mrs. Cadaver was the only survivor of the accident.
368. Did Mrs. Cadaver know Sal’s mother before the bus trip? No.
369. How did Sal know her mother missed her while she was on the trip? Because
she told Mrs. Cadaver so much about her, their house, her dad, etc.
370. How did Sal’s dad meet Mrs. Cadaver? When he came to Lewiston after the
crash, he met with her in the hospital, since she was the only survivor.
371. Was Sal’s dad going to marry Mrs. Cadaver? No, because he was still in love
with and grieving for his dead wife, Sal’s mother.
372. Where was Gramps when Sal got to the hospital? He was at a motel.
373. Where was Gram? She had died.
374. Where were Gramps and Sal going to go then? Back to Bybanks, Kentucky, to
bury Gram.
375. Where did Sal and her father move to after Gram died? Back to Bybanks, to their
farm.
376. What did Gramps name his new puppy? Huzza huzza.
377. Why didn’t her father take her to Idaho when he went, right after the accident?
He didn’t realize how important it would be for her to go to her mother’s grave. He
was so upset, and he didn’t want Sal to see him that way.
378. Why did Sal think Phoebe had to believe in the lunatic and that her mother had
been kidnapped? Because Phoebe couldn’t accept the fact that her mother might have
left just because she wanted to.
379. What did Sal do when she climbed the sugar maple tree? She thought up there;
it was her thinking tree.
380. What was Sal jealous of? She was jealous of the person Ben had written about
in his journal, she was jealous of Phoebe because her mother had come back, and she
was jealous of the fact that her mother had wanted more children.
381. Who was coming to visit them in Bybanks? Ben, Phoebe, Margaret, Mrs.
Partridge, and maybe also Mr. Birkway.