Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1
Travelling in a car, the Small family was going on a trip to their new home. Thomas Small, the oldest son, was in the car dreaming; it was a pretty long drive. Thomas then woke up. "Papa, tell about the new house again." Mr. Small couldn't stand it anymore when he kept on telling his son about the house, but he sighed and did anyway. Then Thomas gets the idea that the house (mansion in Mr. Small's point of view) is actually haunted. Mr. Small is furious and believes that the house is not haunted. Thomas takes his chances anyway. They talk a little about Mr. Pluto, the houseowner, and they travel on to the house.
Chapter 2
The family is still in the car. It has been a long drive, and along the way it has been raining a lot since the start of the drive. To pass the time Thomas decided to ask Mr. Small about Mr. Pluto. He was the owner of the house. The man who first owned the house was named Dies Drear. Thomas still thinks that the house is haunted, and waits for it to come.
Chapter 3
Now it is a short time until arriving at the house. Upon arriving, Mrs. Small was excited about how big it was; like a mansion! Thomas’ hopes about the house: creepy and “ghostly-looking” was true, also. Moving into the house, they noticed that the kitchen and some of the rooms were already prepared. Must have been Mr. Pluto. The family gets ready for the evening meal, and Thomas goes wondering around.
Chapter 4
Thomas finds a horse and two kids. Mac Darrow and Pesty think Thomas is crazy because “Pluto” will “work” for the Small family. So they laugh. Then Thomas falls down a hole. It seemed to be the underground railroad because there were hiding spots for the slaves. Then he hears a weird voice coming towards him and after a lot of running he bumps into a wall. The wall slides open, and he finds his mother.
Chapter 5
After being disappointed at their son, the parents just find out that the house is “surrounded” with secret passages. Mr. Small is confused and Mrs. Small looked scared. Thomas tells them about the “non-living” voice he heard in the cave. Mrs. Small insists of Thomas to stop telling fake things, but he does anyway. “It’s not fake!” he says. His father says he would go inside to check. After coming back out of the cave, he didn’t hear the weird voice. He then removed the control so no one could go in. Then Thomas decides to go outside of the house.
Chapter 6
Thomas walks around the house, and then suddenly… he hears the voice. Again. He heard the non-living “ahhh” a few times. He started running, but the sound got closer. He then encounters Mr. Pluto, who picks him up; and after some talking, lets go. Thomas runs in the house. Mr. Pluto and Mrs. Small then find Thomas on the floor, muddy, on the floor surrounded by broken dishes. Thomas didn’t bother making sentences: “It’s… he’s coming… lock.” All he wanted is for them to lock the door so that “being” wouldn’t get him.
Chapter 7
After all the commotion, Mrs. Small and Mr. Small finally meet Mr. Pluto. Mr. Pluto accidentally mistook Thomas Small for the kids who give Mr. Pluto trouble to his house. They talk a little bit about the house, and Thomas notices how much Mr. Pluto shifts his eyes from one place to another. Then Thomas starts to lose his fear of Mr. Pluto because Mr. Pluto has horses, three of them. And then Thomas said he was talking about ghosts. Mr. Small said that Mr. Pluto wasn’t talking sense, and Mr. Pluto got angry for a second. But he cooled down.
Chapter 8
The family decided they needed a new lock because of Thomas’ “show” the other night. They would have to go into town, find a locksmith, and buy a couple, maybe three, locks. He was talking to himself later. Mr. Small was working on the kitchen door for over ten minutes. He was muttering to himself. While Thomas and Mrs. Small listened to Mr. Small’s muttering, they figured out something was haunting Mr. Pluto. After a few more minutes of listening, Mr. Small calmed down and sat down. He wanted some more coffee. Mr. Small’s voice didn’t have that “feverish, crazy sound” anymore. Mrs. Small asked if Thomas wanted his coffee black also. He was surprised. Mrs. Small never had let Thomas have black coffee, much less have any coffee. But it was his birthday, so he accepted. The two parents cheered Thomas as it was his birthday. Thomas wanted to see the house inside tonight, “That’s because you’ve had time to see the house from the outside,” Mr. Small said. He thought he could find out where a locksmith could live in town. He wanted Thomas to go to sleep. Meanwhile, when organizing his room, Thomas thought old Pluto was trying to scare him. He organized a plan. Thomas didn’t want to think about anything; he didn’t want to scare himself about what he would do. He would sleep all night on the couch downstairs on the front parlor. After an hour passed since he heard voices of his mother and father, he went downstairs. He felt a lot better. He started to make a bed on the couch. He was asleep when the upstairs hall light went off. Then there was a sound of water running. Then the mirror near the oak door swooped open without sound. But Thomas was still asleep. The mirror closed. The being in front of it wasn’t the same as night. It went up the stairs, and paused at the top. After what seemed like a short time, he continued walking and faded into the darkness of the black house.
Chapter 9
Thomas was talking to himself in his sleep. He could hear himself. He got up and found his new suit and underwear, with a note pinned to the shirt from his mother. “Thomas, you are to wear these clothes.” He laughed. It was a Sunday and they would be going to church. The house looked friendly at this time of day. He changed his clothes and straightened his tie. When meeting Mr. Small, he had three triangles, three right triangles. Thomas went to get a pen and a piece of paper for his dad to diagram the strange triangles. He labeled the wooden legs that formed a right angle, the 90° angle of gold, the silver paint that filled the right angle, and the small metal peg. Mr. Small then tried to arrange the three triangles. He came up with a Greek cross, but the top right triangle was missing.
After all the fuss the Small family went into the car. After driving he sees Mr. Pluto in a buggy. Mr. Pluto slowed, and stopped. He greeted the Small family with a warm welcome. After some minutes of talking Thomas sprinted to the church, yelling all the way.
Chapter 10
After reaching the church, the Small family scrambles to find a seat. “The church is our treasure, son” the parents say to Thomas. Mac Darrow was at the piano. No child was to touch that piano, so Thomas figured Mac Darrow was the minister’s son. Church has started and the minister called out the first song number. The whole church started to sing. On the second song, Mr. Pluto kneeled in the aisle. People looked at him. Darrow wanted to make Mr. Pluto sit up, but the minister was angry enough. “I said sit down! Mr. Pluto wants to kneel, let him kneel!” was what he said. Thomas thought “What kind of place is this North anyway?”
Chapter 11
After arriving in the college that Mr. Small taught at, he decided the family would combine lunch and dinner in the dining room. Then he would find a locksmith. Mr. Small and Thomas were left together, and Thomas was uncertain of the history of the house. “Then why do it? Why bother when it’s all the same anyway?” Mr. Small “battled” his son with other facts, and he took his son to the church so he could make new friends. But Thomas didn’t understand that at the moment, so they went to go eat.
While eating Thomas and Mr. Small were still talking about their previous discussion. Then they talked about the triangles they found. The new triangle was moved, and he fitted it into the Greek Cross.
Thomas asked about the differences of Presbyterians and Methodists, and Mr. Small, because he is a teacher, gave him many reasons, and comparisons. Now after more talking Mr. Small decided to find a locksmith. After finding a sufficient shop Mr. Small hears the name Darrow. Now this leads to something…
Chapter 12
The family talks about the Darrow people and the Carr people. “I wonder what Mr. Pluto’s family name is” Mrs. Small says. Thomas wants to find out, but then he gets interrupted by the thoughts of sledding, and the fun times. So he says to his father, “Please, Papa, I want to see the whole town.” While the family is driving, the family sees the grade school. Thomas could see paper cutouts of Easter rabbits. He was happy, it seemed that everything was normal again. After a few more minutes passed of driving, Mr. Small said it was time to get home. It was almost five-thirty. Thomas wanted to get to his room, anyway, to organize his things, to get ready for school. Then Mr. Small and Thomas goes on a “ghost-hunt,” leaving “his mother and his wife” in the house with a baseball bat, ready to smash the ghosts that ever come in her way.
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
