Walk Two Moons

Walk Two Moons Summary | Plot Summary

This story is about Salamanca Sugar Maple Tree Hiddle, a thirteen-year-old girl living on a farm in Bybanks, Kentucky. Most people call her Sal. She is a thirteen-year-old girl taking a road trip with her grandparents. One year ago, Sal and her father packed up everything and moved to Euclid, Ohio, after learning that her mother wasn't coming back. Her mother left for Lewiston, Idaho to find herself. Sal and her grandparents will drive to Lewiston, Idaho just in time for her mother's birthday. Along the way, they will stop at all the sites her mother visited that include the Badlands, the Black Hills and Old Faithful. The journey gives Sal a chance to relive precious moments with her mother.

Her grandmother wants a story, so Sal tells the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, her friend whom she meets in Euclid, Ohio. Phoebe is a girl who lives next door to Margaret Cadaver, who is close to Sal's father and even helped him to find a job. Sal resents Mrs. Cadaver and is usually taciturn around her. Phoebe is a quiet girl who keeps to herself. Their friendship develops when Sal moves a black spider from her desk, winning the admiration of her fellow students. Phoebe has an active imagination, and she thinks Mrs. Cadaver may have murdered her husband, which Sal is all too willing to consider, since she doesn't like Mrs. Cadaver very much.

As Sal observes Phoebe and her family, Sal has a chance to reflect on her Phoebe's relationship with her parents. Phoebe's family is very reserved and proper, but Sal senses an undercurrent of discontent and sadness in Mrs. Winterbottom. Phoebe's family is diametrically opposite from Mary Lou Finney's, another friend of Sal's. At Mary Lou's, friendly chaos reigns, and Sal is reminded of her own family before the tragedy struck. Sal also begins to feel indescribable emotions whenever she encounters Ben Finney, a cousin of Mary Lou's who is living with her family. He seems to want to kiss her, but then again, she may be imagining things.

One day, a young man stands at Phoebe's doorstep, asking for her mother. Phoebe is convinced that he's a lunatic. Her mother becomes very agitated and asks her not to tell her father, which is strange, as Mrs. Winterbottom tells him everything. That's also the beginning of the mysterious messages on their porch. These rattle Mrs. Winterbottom and stir up Phoebe's dark imagination. Phoebe and Sal glimpse the young man a few more times, heightening their fear and speculation.

Along the way to Lewiston, they stop at the Missouri River, where Sal's grandmother is bitten by a water moccasin. Thanks to a boy named Tom Fleet, they manage to drain out the poison and rush her to the hospital, but they can see her visibly weakened state as their journey continues. Sal's grandmother asks Sal to continue the story of Phoebe.

The mysterious messages continue to arrive at Phoebe's house. One of the messages says In the course of a lifetime, what does it matter, which makes her mother pensive. Shortly after, she disappears with notes for Phoebe, her sister, and her father. Phoebe is convinced that her mother has been kidnapped by the lunatic and is frustrated at her father's reluctance to take action. Sal understands Phoebe, even though she's frustrating sometimes, because she behaved similarly when her own mother left. About two years ago, her mother was pregnant with Sal's sister. Then with only three weeks to go, she miscarried and had two operations, which rendered her barren. Sal is convinced that she brought on the miscarriage, because she broke her leg that day and her mother had to carry her from the deep woods back to the house. Afterwards, her mother changed from a lively person and one day left for Lewiston, Idaho to see her cousin and find herself.

Phoebe and Sal finally go to the police and encounter Sergeant Bickle. He is indulgent but disbelieving of the kidnap scenario and Mrs. Cadaver's culpability. Then Phoebe and Sal find out that their lunatic is Sergeant Bickle's son. His name is Mike. Their investigation take them to the university in Chanting Falls where they see Mrs. Winterbottom with Mike Bickle. Unable to watch, Phoebe turns around and ends up in the hospital nearby where Ben Finney is visiting. She meets Ben's mother, who is in the psychiatric ward. As they walk around with her, they finally share a first kiss.

Finally, Phoebe's mother comes home with Mike Bickle, stirring up tension and anger. Everyone is taken aback when she explains that he is her son whom she had given up for adoption. Mr. Winterbottom is upset with her for having kept a secret from him but is willing to make a go and accept Mike into the fold. Only Phoebe is still angry with her mother. Phoebe and Sal also learn that Mrs. Cadaver's husband wasn't murdered but was killed by a drunk driver. The accident also took away Mrs. Cadaver's mother's eyesight. Mrs. Cadaver was the nurse on duty when her husband and her mother were brought in and Mrs. Cadaver had to watch him die. Phoebe is quite beside herself when she realizes her error. The day also reveals the person behind the mysterious messages. It is Mrs. Partridge, Margaret Cadaver's mother. She thought they would be grand surprises like fortune cookies.

Sal and her grandparents stop in Coeur d'Alene, a town about a hundred miles from Lewiston, Idaho. Her grandmother has suffered a stroke. With her grandfather's implicit permission, Sal drives the remaining distance to Lewiston. She's looking for the bus crash site, from which only Mrs. Cadaver survived. She and her mother became friends during the ride, and Mrs. Cadaver held her hand in her last moments. A sympathetic sheriff, when hearing her story, takes her to her mother's grave. Sal wishes her a happy birthday and finally experiences closure. When she comes back to Coeur d'Alene, she learns that her grandmother has passed away.

Sal, her father and her grandfather are back on the farm in Bybanks, Kentucky. She has learned a lot from the journey. She's been able to walk in her mother's moccasins and has gained an understanding of her mother. Ben and Phoebe still write to her. Ben even sends her a valentine. Sal also corresponds with Tom Fleet, the boy who helped her grandmother. Ben, Phoebe and Mrs. Cadaver will come and visit in a month. Life continues.