Tom's Midnight Garden

When Abel reemerges, Tom begs to know how Hatty is. Abel reluctantly confirms that she is alive. Tom enters the house and is able to go beyond the hallway for the first time. He searches upstairs for Hatty, fearing that she will die. 

Tom is shocked when he sees James on the landing, as Hatty’s cousin is now a man. He listens to James’s conversation with Hatty’s aunt. Grace says that Hatty’s accident proves that she “has no sense of what is fitting to her sex and her age” (138). James defends Hatty, suggesting that she is immature because she has not had the opportunity to socialize. He also points out that she has no hope of marrying or earning a living if she never leaves the house. James suggests that Hatty should be included in future outings.

Tom finds Hatty’s room, which has a barred window. He realizes that, in the Kitsons’ apartment, Hatty’s bedroom has been partitioned into his room and the bathroom next door. He also notes that Hatty looks older than when they first met.

Hatty assures Tom that she is fine and shows him her secret hiding place under the closet’s floorboards. She takes out a photograph of her parents, recalling how she used to tell Tom they were a king and queen. Tom tells Hatty that he will see her tomorrow, as usual. However, Hatty observes that Tom often disappears for months.

Tom goes back outside and then reopens the back door, expecting to return to the present. However, the hallway remains full of the Melbournes’ possessions. He returns to Hatty’s room and finds her asleep. Tom lies on the floor and also falls asleep. When he wakes up, he is back in his own room.

Peter writes to Tom, warning him that their parents want him to return home on Saturday. Tom feels divided—he misses his family but does not want to leave the garden.

Tom walks to the river with Gwen and notes how it has changed since Hatty’s era. Houses and an asphalt path have replaced the meadows, and no signs of wildlife exist. Gwen says that the nearby houses and factories pollute the river.

That night, Tom is surprised when he enters the garden, as it is covered with snow. He follows Hatty’s footprints to the frozen pond, where she is trying to skate. Tom has gained weight since living with the Kitsons, due to his aunt’s rich food. Nevertheless, Hatty observes that he looks “thinner.” Tom reminds Hatty that she promised to show him what was written inside the grandfather clock. He is impatient as she excitedly explains that she is going skating with her cousins and their friends. Finally, Hatty opens the grandfather clock case, revealing the inscription “Time No Longer” (161), a quotation from the Book of Revelation in the Bible.

Abel catches Hatty and Tom as they borrow his Bible to find the quotation. The gardener is astonished but pleased to see Tom consulting the holy book. Finding the correct chapter and verse, Tom and Hatty read about an angel descending from heaven, standing astride the sea and earth, and declaring “that there should be time no longer” (163). Hatty explains that it refers to the end of the world. Tom declines Hatty’s invitation to return to the pond and goes back to bed to think.

Tom reflects that if time can end, as the biblical quotation suggests, then it is not an immovable force. It may, therefore, be possible to “dodge” time and remain in the past. When Tom broaches the subject of angels and time over breakfast, Alan becomes impatient with Tom’s illogical questions and storms off to work. That evening, Alan apologizes to Tom and provides a baffling scientific explanation of how time operates.

That night, Tom enters the garden. The landscape is still snowy, but a new gate in the hedge indicates that a significant amount of time has passed in Hatty’s era. Going through the gate into the meadow, Tom sees that the river is frozen, and groups of people are skating on the ice. Hatty skates toward Tom, initially unsure if it is him. She tells Tom that she missed him, even though she now has other friends. Hatty excitedly describes how skating makes her feel “as free as a bird” (172). Tom enjoys sliding on the ice but cannot keep up with Hatty without skates.

Tom asks Hatty to keep her skates in the secret hiding place in her closet whenever she isn’t using them. Hatty is confused but promises to do so. Tom goes back to his bedroom and finds Hatty’s skates in the hiding place.