Bob

Livy wonders if she indeed fell into the well and Bob saved her. Though Bob insists that she saved him, Livy is skeptical. She insists they go to the well in an attempt to jog both of their memories.

Once outside, Livy’s memories of the well become clearer. She recalls there are three small stone steps on one side of the well. She peers inside but cannot recall any other details regarding the well. Livy asks Bob to recreate their walk from the chicken coop to the house on the day they met in the coop, and Bob explains that Livy had chosen to take “the long way” from the coop to the house. They repeat this route and come across a flat rock that Bob insists is “their rock” (106). Livy admits that it does resemble the rock from a children’s book. Bob says that this is the place where Livy saved him from a monster. Bob’s description of this monster sounds like a cat to Livy. She is growing more certain that Bob saved her after she fell into the well, and then she saved Bob from a cat.

Back inside, Livy retrieves some band-aids for Bob, upon his insistence that he bandage his scraped knees, marred by the foliage on the “long” route. When she returns to the bedroom, her mother is there and Bob lies atop the bed, pretending to be a stuffed animal. Bob successfully fools Livy’s mother, who reminds Livy that she plans to leave early in the morning. Livy begins to feel anxious, but her mother tells her a story about a wishing well. After she leaves, Bob sadly says that he wishes he too had a mother.

Bob narrates the chapter, explaining that Livy forces him to take a bath. Though he protests initially, Bob enjoys the warmth of the water and the time to think. He notes that Livy did not notice that her mother entered to kiss her early in the morning before leaving on her trip. Her mother did not, however, notice Bob in the dark.

Bob finishes the bath just as Sarah arrives. She has come to retrieve her sweatshirt, though Gran insists the two girls should spend some time getting reacquainted. Bob rushes back to the closet, placing Sarah’s sweatshirt onto the bed. The girls enter, and Sarah comments on Rufus, whom she remembers. Bob, too, remembers Sarah, noting that she once took one of the books from the room with her when she left.

Gran brings cookies and a tape recorder, explaining that the girls used it to record themselves performing pop songs. They play one of the tapes and hear their five-year-old selves singing. After Gran leaves, Sarah confesses that the sweatshirt is not the reason she has come to see Livy.

Sarah tells Livy that in truth she wanted to spend time with Livy. She points to two dolls that they played with previously. Livy has no memory of this, and playing with dolls strikes her as babyish. Instead, she asks Sarah to play “Truth or Dare,” explaining the rules.

When Sarah chooses “dare,” Livy seizes the opportunity to send her downstairs so that she can speak with Bob, still hiding in the closet. Bob is eager for Sarah to leave so that he and Livy can resume their chess game. But Sarah returns, and the Truth or Dare game continues. After Livy refuses the dare of consuming a raw egg, Sarah asks her to truthfully tell her whether she is indeed too “cool” to play with dolls. Livy concedes, and the two dance the dolls around to the “music” of their five-year-old selves on the tape recorder.

The singing, however, ends and leads into a younger Livy narrating a story to Bob. Livy quickly shuts off the tape recorder as Sarah asks about Bob. After Livy insists that he must have been an imaginary friend, Sarah asks whether Livy indeed buried a time capsule as she had planned. Livy has no memory of a time capsule but feels this information could prove important.

From the closet, Bob listens as Livy asks Sarah questions about Sarah’s imaginary friend, Philippa. Sarah recalls how she, Livy, and Philippa had a tea party at Sarah’s house, though Livy never brought her “imaginary” friend, Bob.

When Sarah leaves, Livy offers to let her take one of the dolls with her, but Sarah declines. Sarah wants to spend more time with Livy later, but Livy explains that she must bake a cake with Gran. Once Sarah has gone, Bob exits the closet. Livy has saved him a cookie, and, as he eats it, Livy comments that the chicken suit is now too small for him. Bob hugs Livy and then tells her about using the Legos to make various items while she was away.

Livy tells him they are going to search for the buried time capsule, and Bob replies that he knows where it is buried.

Livy narrates, explaining that she distracts Gran with a request for a snack so that Bob can sneak outside. She meets him at “their rock,” which is the location of the buried time capsule, according to Bob. Bob eats the banana bread Livy has procured from Gran while Livy digs.

Livy is certain that it will be impossible to dig far enough under the rock, but suddenly Bob lifts the entire rock over his head. Livy comments on Bob’s strength. Indeed, a glass jar secured closed with a lid rests in the place where the rock was. Bob and Livy return inside to open the jar.