How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I was once the mouse in the middle when it came to sisters. There were two older: Vicky and Alice. But they are no longer with us and can play no part in the great adventure coming in our lives.
Theirs is a painful story that we need not go into just yet. Mother is no longer with us either, which is part of the same sad story. (2.1-2)
Helena has a tough time talking about her past. It's only the second chapter of the book, and already we know that three of her family members have died, which lets us know that she's got some rough memories to sort through. Keep an eye out for how she talks about these memories (or avoids them at all costs) as the book goes on.
Quote #2
It was this very she-cat who got Papa. Yes, our papa. In a scene too terrible to tell, she pounced. In the dust of the barn lot Papa had come across an ear of Indian corn. He could make a meal out of Indian corn and had just started through the second row of kernels when she pounced, all teeth and claws. I can't bear to say any more than that. Don't ask me. (3.28)
Helena has some really sad memories. What do you think about how she says she can't talk about her dad's death? She's pretty forceful about it when she tells us, "Don't ask me." We get the impression that Helena only wants to tell us about her family's past on her own terms and in her own time.
Quote #3
"Come around here and look, Helena. It's gone back to the past."
I edged around to gaze over her sagging old shape, into the crystal ball.
I staggered. There in the depths of the crystal ball was… the rain barrel at the corner of our house. Clear as day. It was winter, with a skim of ice across the rainwater. I couldn't face it. My hands were over my eyes. (5.49-51)
Aunt Fannie's crystal ball is supposed to show the future, but it goes back to the past instead. And this lets us know that Helena's family history is super important. She may not want to face her past, but one day poor Helena is going to have to open her eyes.
Quote #4
Aunt Fannie thumped the marble. "I've been having trouble with this thing. It'll go in reverse, but I can't get it turned around to tell futures. Look there."
Though I dreaded another view of the rain barrel, I chanced a look. The crystal ball was crowded with humans in peculiar caps and wooden shoes.
"Oh for pity's sake," I said. "It's gone all the way back to old Dutch days." (5.55-57)
All Helena wants is to learn about her future, but Aunt Fannie's crystal ball really wants to show her the past. What do you think the "old Dutch days" tells us about Helena's past? Why is the crystal ball traveling so far back in time?
Quote #5
I'd have taken my chances back home. Gladly. But you can't go back, not in this life. You have to go forward. (6.11)
When it comes to traveling across the Atlantic, Helena and her siblings are super scared—so scared, in fact, that Helena just wants to go home. She wants her past life back again. What do you think about Helena's statement that she "can't go back" in life? Do you agree that she can't return to her past?
Quote #6
How I longed for home then. Our old home in the kitchen wall behind the stove, in our matchboxes with the scrap quilts and the human-hair mattresses.
I had led us away from all we knew in order to keep us together, to be family. Now look at us.
Louise (Mousie!) and Camilla as if I didn't exist. And Beatrice, who was either terrified, lovesick, or sound asleep. And Lamont gone gladly off into the unknowable world of boys. Mouse Scouts indeed. (7.77-79)
Helena has just one wish: to go back to her past. And take a look at her tone—she sounds nostalgic and sad to us as she remembers the details of her old digs.
Quote #7
"But how will we know when it's quarter past four o'clock?" Beatrice said. She had a point. We mice are not good with time. For us, it's always run—
"The gong will sound at four o'clock to summon the 'umans to their tea in the Winter Garden," said Lamont, who was 'ardly Lamont at all. "Once they're out of the way, then you three 'ightail it for the Duchess's suite."
"But where—"
"I shall myself conduct you," Lamont said grandly. "Now if there are no further questions, I 'ave other duties. Nigel keeps me on the 'op." (9.24-27)
Lamont has changed under Nigel's influence, and it's almost as if he's left his old self behind. Check out how Lamont has all the answers—the sisters haven't even finished asking their questions and he's already giving them an answer. Lamont used to be the wild little brother, but it looks like he's had quite the new start on this ship.
Quote #8
"Thanks to me," Louise endlessly recalled, "Camilla has snagged Lord Peter Henslowe, a major catch. Truly top-notch. His family—the Henslowes, you know—have two castles and a house in London. They ride to hounds. Hounds, my dears. Lord Peter will be an earl one day, and that will make Camilla a countess. A countess." Oh how Louise preened. She grinned and grinned to show her useful teeth. We were meant to remember pearls pattering at a certain social occasion. (12.21)
Here's a wee bit of good news: not every memory in this book is a bad one. In fact, Louise has a pretty sweet memory about how she helped Camilla catch the attention of Lord Peter. Louise doesn't want to stop remembering that perfect moment, and she's not about to let her sisters forget it either.
Quote #9
We gazed at our brother, trying to think. You know how mice are about water. And Lamont meant to spend his life at sea. You can't make these things up.
"Oh, Lamont." I worked my hands. The bothersome boy! "What if something happens to your tail? Who will sew it back?"
But he thrust his patchy tail well out of sight and turned his little pointy chinless face to the future. (13.66-68)
Lamont and his sisters have had some rough times in their past—Lamont even lost part of his tail—but when it comes to moving forward, Lamont is raring to go. He's not worried about who will fix his tail up, and he's only looking toward one thing: "the future." What do you think about Lamont's ability to not be held back by his past?
Quote #10
And my mind spun backward to our old lives, on the far side of all the surging sea. A moment flashed before me like a glimpse from deep within a crystal ball. There was the ancient humped figure of Aunt Fannie Fenimore. Bald patches, spectacles, and all: Aunt Fannie upon her powder puff throne.
I remembered the day I'd gone to her through the hedge to learn about our futures. I recalled her extending both her old hands stretched wide. "This is how you hold on to your family," she had said. (16.26-27)
While Beatrice is getting married, Helena can't help but think about the old days. It sounds to us like she's being taken over by her memories here—just check out how she says that "my mind spun backward" and a memory "flashed before me." Those are some pretty intense experiences Helena is having of her past. Do you think this means Helena is finally escaping her past? Or do they tell us that she's still caught up in her old memories?