The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

While Rosalind is out in Quigley Woods with Batty and Ben, Nick persuades her to talk to Tommy about Trilby, who is being overbearing and overly affectionate towards the younger Geiger brother. Rosalind brings Ben home, and Iantha tells her about her late husband, Dan, who was killed by a drunk driver six months before their son was born. Rosalind asks her if she’s become used to his absence, and she says that she eventually did.

With encouragement from Iantha, Rosalind goes to see Tommy. She’s heard that Trilby calls him every day and wants to celebrate their one-week anniversary, and Tommy asks Rosalind if she’s jealous. She adamantly denies this with the only word she knows in Russian, “Nyet” or ‘no,’ because Tommy is studying the language. He becomes angry when he learns that Nick put her up to this conversation: “The great and perfect Rosalind and my great and perfect big brother have been deciding what’s best for me?” (173). Rosalind apologizes and leaves.

On Saturday, Jane is so morose about not going to Boston that she misses two goals during her soccer game, and her team loses. She returns home and lies on her bed, imagining Jeffrey confessing to Skye that he prefers her “beautiful and talented sister, Jane” (175). In an attempt to cheer herself up, she visits her father in his study, where she sees a copy of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, which was one of her mother’s favorite stories, and an invitation to a gala to celebrate the opening of a new science wing at his university. When she asks Martin if he’s going to bring Marianne to the event, he suggests that she go outside and rake leaves with Tommy.

Jane helps Tommy with his strength training and asks if she can use one of his old football uniforms for her Halloween costume. She also encourages him to stop moping over Rosalind and to take action to win her heart instead. Tommy rejects her advice because she is only 10. Distraught, Jane runs home, lies down in her yard, and weeps. Iantha, Batty, and Ben find her, and Iantha invites the girl back to her home, where she makes everyone grilled cheese sandwiches. Jane opens up to Iantha about the reasons why she feels miserable and about the Save-Daddy Plan. Their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Norman, a former colleague of Iantha’s who is convinced that she stole his research. To cheer themselves up, Iantha and Jane attempt to gradually introduce Hound to Asimov. When Jane returns home with Hound and Batty, she is glad to see that Tommy left one of his old uniforms by her front door.

When Aunt Claire calls Martin to ask about his dating life, he claims to have just remembered that he’s supposed to have his second date with Marianne that afternoon. He leaves Rosalind in charge. Jane informs her elder sister that Marianne isn’t listed in the phone book. They resolve to begin asking their father “[t]ough, incisive questions” about this mysterious woman once Skye returns from her trip to Boston because they can’t “fight against an unknown” (192).

Batty stows away in Martin’s car to spy on Marianne so that things can go back to the way they were before Rosalind started worrying about their father dating. She has Hound lie on the floor of the back seat while she sits in her car seat and covers them both with blankets. Martin immediately spots them. He leaves a note informing Rosalind of Batty’s whereabouts and lures his youngest daughter out of hiding by driving to her favorite pizza place. After sharing a pineapple pizza with him, Batty explains that her sisters are worried about Marianne. Martin instructs Batty to report to her sisters that Marianne is “sensible and clever, but eager in everything” (198). He says that it’s been too long since he and Batty had an adventure together, and he takes her to feed the horses on a nearby farm. Later that day, Batty reports the message that her father asked her to memorize to Rosalind and Jane, and they both think that their father must be so in love that he’s losing his senses.

On the evening of Batty’s attempt at espionage, Skye returns home from Boston. Jeffrey sent presents for everyone—a glasses case for the forgetful Martin, rose clippers to help Rosalind care for the bush Cagney gave her, a collection of ties that Jeffrey’s mother and Dexter sent to him on their honeymoon for Batty, and a piece of music he composed especially for Jane. Jeffrey’s present for Skye is a mug with the name of his boarding school, Welborn-Hughes, written on it. As she holds the mug, she fondly recalls visiting Boston’s planetarium with Jeffrey and Churchie and playing soccer in the hallway of his dormitory.

When Batty mentions Halloween, Skye remembers that the play will be performed the day after the holiday, and her good mood evaporates. Jane suggests that they rehearse, but Skye escapes by bringing Asimov home after the cat climbs onto the Penderwicks’ roof again. Sensing that the 11-year-old needs comfort, Iantha uses her telescope to show her Venus, which looks like “a glowing, glimmering disk” (212). Iantha explains that the Aztecs viewed Venus as a symbol of death and rebirth. Skye opens up about her stage fright, and Iantha tells her that she once fainted backstage during her school play. Then Iantha enthralls Skye with an explanation of her research into dark matter. The young girl thanks the astrophysicist and races home, full of hope in the universe’s possibilities.

Halloween arrives 18 days after Iantha shows Skye her telescope. During that time, Batty continues to look for the Bug Man, Jane helps Skye prepare for the play, and Martin goes on several more dates with the mysterious Marianne. He provides only vague answers to his daughters’ questions about her, so they insist on meeting her.

On the night of Halloween, Batty dresses up as a dinosaur, Rosalind and Anna dress up as Roman goddesses, Jane dresses up as Tommy, and Skye dresses up as dark matter. Martin claims that he forgot to ask Marianne to celebrate Halloween with them, prompting Rosalind to wonder, “Could he be worried about what Marianne will think of us?” (221).

Batty hides in a bush while her sisters and Anna play football with Nick and his teammates. The four-year-old is terrified when she sees the Bug Man hiding nearby. Nick carries her home while she sobs inconsolably. Hours later, Rosalind informs Skye and Jane that Batty is all right. The middle sisters are still awake because they’re rehearsing for the play.