51 pages • 1-hour read
This Was Our Pact
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Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary: “Gravitational Waves”
The two-page spread that opens the chapter is wordless; its dark blues, purples, and blacks show the small boat carrying the two boys and the fisherbear being tossed by large waves as they make their way into the ocean. The following page is a borderless splash page showing the boat being carried atop a huge wave; the orange full moon looms above them. Inset panels at the top of the page show their worried faces as they urge each other to paddle hard for the shore and realize that their boat is out of control. Ben notices the color of the moon and calls their attention to it. Nathaniel explains that it is a lunar eclipse, and they realize that Madam Majestic’s potion must have worked. Nathaniel says that when Madam Majestic’s potion moved the moon into the earth’s shadow, it affected the moon’s gravitational pull, which is what is causing the huge waves.
The fisherbear feels seasick and asks the boys to go into his basket and get his seasickness medication. They pull out a bottle marked “Madam Majestic’s Motion Mellower” (260.) When the bear drinks some of it, though, it tastes so foul that he spits it over the side of the boat. He throws the rest of the bottle overboard, and the waves instantly calm. They peer over the side of the boat, marveling at the glass-like water. The bear wonders whether he was supposed to drink the potion, after all; the boys point out that, either way, it seems to have worked. On the far left, they notice a pink glow on the horizon. The boys believe that the light is coming from the lanterns, heading from the river into the sea.
Ben feels intensely disappointed over this apparently prosaic conclusion of the lanterns’ journey. Suddenly, the boys and the fisherbear realize that their boat is being pulled back toward the cave opening. No matter how hard they paddle, they cannot change its course. Nathaniel worries that Madam Majestic has discovered his escape and is bringing them back to her home. The fisherbear takes charge: “PREPARE TO ABANDON SHIP!” he commands, and the boys answer “AYE AYE!” (270). The bear ties the boys’ bikes to the lid of his basket using his long scarf. He tosses the basket overboard and they all pile into the basket.
With no way to row, they consider what to do next. They realize that the pink lights are drawing closer to them. They hear laughter coming from the cloud of pink light. A full-tier panel suffused with bright pink shows the lights growing close; the next panel is a close-up of Ben’s and Nathaniel’s astonished faces. The lights come closer still, gradually revealing a strange floating rock formation bedecked with domes and small lighthouses. In a two-page spread, the basket containing the boys and the bear is on the far left, while the huge pink rock formation closes the gap, taking up the entire right-hand page. Mysterious, rounded figures stand and sit around the formation. One wearing a tall, feathery hat calls out, “THE HARVEST IS RIPE! WON’T YOU JOIN US FOR THE FESTIVITIES?” (274). The fisherbear explains that he has to get home to his cubs, and the boys explain that they need to find their lanterns. Another two-page spread shows an even closer view of the whimsical pink rock formation and more fantastical beings. One sits smiling on a kind of throne, its long white hair billowing behind. “THAT’S A REAL SHAME,” says the figure in the feathered hat (279). Nathaniel asks if they are “The Enlightened Ones,” but they sail into the cave opening in silence.
Suddenly, the figure in the feathered hat comes running across the water toward their basket. She inhales deeply and then blows, sending a gust of wind that rocks the basket. The boys and the fisherbear realize that they need a sail to take advantage of the wind. The fisherbear takes off his coat, and they each hold a part of it to make an impromptu sail. The sail fills, and they are delighted as the wind carries them across the water.
Chapter 8 Summary: “A Little Farther Up the Road”
The boys realize that, in their basket, they are drifting over the flooded road. They navigate among tall tree trunks and spy a hill where the road emerges from the ocean. The fisherbear tells them that as soon as they strike land, they should grab their bikes. He says: “Don’t you worry about me. JUST GET UP THAT HILL AS FAST AS YOU CAN!” (288). They do as he says, pushing their bikes alongside as they struggle up the hill, but the hill is very steep and they get tired. The fisherbear rushes up the hill behind them and gives them a shove; they crest the hill and he tells them to hop on their bikes. As they soar down the other side of the hill, they spot the lanterns floating down the river.
The fisherbear jumps onto the back of Ben’s bike, and the trio rides alongside the river, following the lanterns. Ben is astonished to see that the lanterns keep leaping out of the water; the others notice this, too. The bear urges them to hurry, believing that they are now close to the traditional fishing spot. Ben tells him that he cannot go any faster because of the fisherbear’s weight, so the fisherbear jumps off Ben’s bike and bounds ahead through the woods. He then jumps into the river atop one of the glowing orbs. As he bounds along from orb to orb, the panels zoom in on the fisherbear until he fills the frame. Finally, the orb he stands on morphs into the shape of a glowing white fish. The following panel is a frameless splash page showing the bear launching himself off of the fish, which leaps into the air behind him; the other orbs in the river are now also clearly fish, and an inset panel at the bottom of the page offers a close-up of Nathaniel and Ben’s surprised faces.
They come to the three boulders that mark the fisherbear’s ancestral fishing spot. The boys hold the bear’s basket while the bear leaps through the air catching the fish as they rise from the river into the sky and then deposits them in the basket. Ben and Nathaniel are impressed and are pleased for him. Eventually, the fish have traveled too far away, and the bear simply stands watching them as the stream of white, glowing fish flows up into the dark, distant sky. A two-page spread shows a closer view of the luminous fish flying through the dark blue sky. The boys are excited to witness this, and Ben thinks: “I HARDLY BELIEVED MY EYES, BUT I WAS SEEING IT. THEY MADE FLYING OFF INTO THE STARS LOOK SO EFFORTLESS” (318). Another two-page spread follows; the fish are now farther away—they are vaguely fish-shaped lights against the black of space. Ben’s narration continues: “LIKE WE COULD EASILY JOIN THEM IF WE WANTED TO” (321).
The fisherbear approaches the boys. His basket is filled with fish, and the boys congratulate him, telling him that he was amazing. The bear credits his instincts for his success. He tells them that he has imagined this night for 35 years. Ben says that it turned out exactly like the fisherbear’s father’s stories, and the fisherbear says it was even better than he dreamed it would be. Nathaniel says that he feels the same way. The fisherbear thanks them for their help in making the night successful. He notices a bus coming down the road and offers to pay the boys’ return fare back to their town. Ben tells him, “Thanks, but I think we’re gonna go a little farther up the road” (325). Nathaniel gives the fisherbear some Rice Krispies treats for his trip home, and the fisherbear gets on the bus. As the boys watch the bus depart, they wonder whether they will ever see him again. Ben says they might, since they now know his fishing spot. They make a pact to come back to this spot once a year, just the two of them. The bear calls out the window of the bus that Nathaniel should tell his mother the Rice Krispies treats are delicious. The fisherbear asks for the recipe, and Nathaniel tells him he will give it to him when they see him next year.
As they resume their journey, Nathaniel asks Ben why he didn’t tell the fisherbear they were setting off to circumnavigate the earth. Ben says that he isn’t sure, but maybe he just didn’t want the fisherbear to worry. He asks Nathaniel for a Rice Krispies treat, and Nathaniel assures him that he still has plenty. “AND SO WE RODE ON INTO THAT NIGHT,” the narration concludes, “NEVER TURNING FOR HOME, NEVER LOOKING BACK” (328-30). The final splash panel on Page 330 shows the boys as tiny silhouettes in the middle distance, framed by the dark blues of the road, forest, and sky. Ahead of them, a narrow road stretches up along an immense hill, looking like a path to the starry sky.
Chapters 7-8 Analysis
In the book’s final chapters, Ben demonstrates how he has grown with regard to Balancing Perseverance and Flexibility and with Cultivating Positivity and a Sense of Wonder. At the beginning of his journey, Ben was fixated on his goal of following the lanterns and on the original pact he had made with Mikey, Elliot, Adam, and Sammy. He was angry when they abandoned the pact and resisted having Nathaniel along instead; he was also bothered by departures from the plan like stopping to talk with the fisherbear. In Chapter 7, by contrast, Ben shows appreciation for the new and unexpected: Even under the dire conditions of their boat being tossed by the giant waves, Ben is the one who first notices the wonder of the orange moon. When he and Nathaniel mistake The Enlightened Ones’ lights for the lanterns, Ben is not exultant at having achieved an ending to his quest: Instead, he is disappointed that this potential ending lacks wonder and mystery. He is no longer simply chasing an answer to his question and is more invested in the wondrous nature of his journey.
Ben never loses his characteristic perseverance—he has simply learned to temper it with more flexibility. He is willing to spend a little time talking to The Enlightened Ones, but he does not accept their invitation to join what promises to be a spectacular celebration because this would interfere with his quest. He is still determined to find out where the lanterns go, but he understands that the journey itself is rewarding. So, he learns to embrace the unexpected—and temporary—digressions. His persistence to find an answer to the mystery of the lanterns’ final destination finally pays off in Chapter 8, when he and Nathaniel experience the astonishing sight of the lanterns transforming into fish and flying off into the sky.
By the novel’s close, Ben also fully understands The Importance of Open-Mindedness and has embraced his friendship with Nathaniel. This is a marked change from the beginning, when Ben shunned Nathaniel simply because Ben’s companions found Nathaniel odd. When Nathaniel suggests that they come to the fisherbear’s fishing spot each year on the fall equinox, Ben readily agrees. Near the end of Chapter 8, he even asks for one of Nathaniel’s Rice Krispies treats, symbolically accepting their friendship and Nathaniel’s enthusiastic, loyal personality. He now sees Nathaniel as an equal and a partner.
The book’s conclusion does not answer where the boys will go next in their journey and how far they will really travel away from home. Chapter 8’s title, “A Little Farther up the Road,” comes from Ben’s dialogue. When the fisherbear asks whether he can get them tickets home, Ben says that they are going “a little farther up the road” (325). Ben’s diction here—a “little” farther—demonstrates that deep down, the boys know they are not ready yet to permanently leave home behind. They are adolescents and are still developing their independence. Nathaniel confirms this when the fisherbear calls back that he should tell his mother the Rice Krispies treats are delicious: “I’LL LET HER KNOW,” he says without hesitation, showing that he expects to be home again soon (327). When Nathaniel asks Ben why he did not tell the fisherbear that they will be circumnavigating the globe, Ben uses hedging language, saying, “I guess I just didn’t want him to worry” (329). Ben is not completely sure of his own plans. Perhaps he simply wants to allay any fears the fisherbear might have about their plans, but on some level he, too, likely knows they will be heading home soon.
Adolescence is an inherently ambiguous stage of life. Young people at this age are stuck between the dependence and security of childhood and the independence and risks of adulthood. When the boys watch the fish swim away up into the sky, Ben marvels at how easy they make their journey look: “LIKE WE COULD EASILY JOIN THEM IF WE WANTED TO,” he explains (321). Someday, he and Nathaniel will be ready to make that more permanent break from home and soar up into the adult world on their own—but for now, they are not yet ready for this. The ending of Ben and Nathaniel’s story mirrors their grand ambitions and attachment to home: The two make plans to circumnavigate the earth while happily munching on the Rice Krispies treats that symbolically tie them to home.
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