Summary
Waiting for Sarah to finish her errands, Woolly looks at the displays in a department store, reminiscing on his childhood memories of Christmas shopping there with his extended family. Upon Sarah’s return, Woolly presents his sister with a giant stuffed panda, a gift for the baby. Sarah asks Woolly to promise that he will return to Salina after his visit. He agrees, and they leave to have tea for old times’ sake.
In Woolly and Sarah’s absence, Duchess explores the house. He finds a baseball bat and Sarah’s husband’s closet full of suits, helping himself to both. A day after Duchess's visit, Emmett arrives at Townhouse’s address. Townhouse shares the details of Duchess’s visit, and tells Emmett that he is not the only one looking for Duchess, as two cops were there the previous night.
Townhouse leads Emmett to his car, which has been stashed nearby at a repair shop. He warns Emmett that the police may come looking for the car, which Duchess has been identified driving. Back in Morgen, Sally waits for her father to finish his lunch so that she can receive Emmett’s phone call. She races upstairs when her father leaves, but the phone does not ring.
Emmett and Billy arrive at a circus in Brooklyn, which is where Duchess told Townhouse he would be. They find Woolly in the audience, rapt, and Emmett leaves Billy with Woolly before heading off to find Duchess. Emmett tracks down Duchess in a back room, playing the piano for a group of scantily-clad women. One of the performers, Ma Belle, returns from the stage, and Emmett is forced into a toast before he can excuse himself and Duchess. He reluctantly drinks the champagne, and the room begins spinning. Emmett finds himself lying in bed with Charity, one of the girls that Duchess knows, then promptly blacks out.
Duchess drives off with Woolly and, unavoidably, Billy, who has tagged along after being reassured that his brother will return later. Duchess rapidly grows annoyed with Billy’s habit of correcting him, and he conspires to break Billy’s naivete. When they come into view of the Empire State Building, Duchess prompts Billy to think of his book and Professor Abernathe’s office, which is supposedly located in the Empire State Building.
Billy, elated at the prospect of meeting the writer of his treasured book, readily agrees to search the Empire State Building for the professor’s office. However, Duchess has crueler intentions, as he does not believe the office exists and simply wants to break Billy’s childhood naivete. The second-to-last door that Billy tries reveals Professor Abernathe, sitting behind his desk and writing. Though surprised, the professor greets Billy kindly, listening intently to the story of his journey from Morgen so far.
Hearing of Ulysses’s story, Professor Abernathe is immediately intrigued by the tale of someone so similar to Odysseus, and asks to be brought to the man. The professor and Ulysses hit it off, as Professor Abernathe explains that Odysseus had to give tribute to the gods, and encourages Ulysses to offer something similar. He believes that the two men might truly share a destiny, and Ulysses, hopeful for the first time in a long time, gladly accepts the advice. As the boys drive back to Sarah’s place, Woolly has the pleasant thought that it has been a truly extraordinary, “one-of-a-kind kind of day.”
The next day, Woolly is organizing the spice rack while the boys wait for Emmett to return from the night before. He finds and pockets an unexpected bottle just as the doorbell rings. Duchess has spent the day running errands with Billy. They buy groceries for the dinner that Duchess plans to make that night, and Duchess sets Billy to account for all the expenses that their journey has accrued, promising to pay Emmett back once they get their hands on Woolly’s inheritance.
Emmett wakes up from the night before and realizes that he was drugged. He finds Charity and Ma Belle, two of the women from the circus that Duchess knew, and over breakfast, learns that the other boys are waiting for him at Woolly’s sister’s house. After a long day of misdirections, Emmett finally arrives at the house of Woolly’s sister. Sharply annoyed at Duchess’s nonchalance, Emmett raises his fist. Woolly and Billy have excused themselves, and they end up in Woolly’s old room, where Woolly pulls out a watch that he inherited from his grandfather. He gifts it to Billy as a replacement for the broken army watch.
Emmett cannot hit Duchess, despite Duchess encouraging him. He deflates, and receives an apology and the remaining money in the envelope that Duchess stole along with the car. Duchess produces the account of expenses that Billy wrote, promising to reimburse Emmett as soon as he and Woolly get their hands on Woolly’s inheritance. They are interrupted by the sound of a small explosion in the street.
Having missed her scheduled call with Emmett, Sally has managed to track down the address of Woolly’s sister by way of Episcopalian church communities. When the phone was never answered, she decided to drive up to Manhattan herself, where she has arrived at Sarah’s house. Sally arrives just in time for dinner.
The meal, which Duchess and Billy have spent the afternoon preparing, is a great hit. The five enjoy their food with drinks, cheering over a magic trick that Duchess shows off. The party is interrupted when Dennis and Sarah return from their night out, enraged and disappointed respectively at the sight. Dennis pulls Woolly aside and delivers a scathing lecture. He tells Woolly that he will be getting Woolly a job as a runner for one of his friends at the stock exchange. Deeply ashamed of forgetting themselves and their manners, Emmett and Sally stay to clean the dining table off.
Analysis
Emmett and Duchess’s confrontation, which has been a long time coming, finally occurs. It does not, however, go the way Emmett was expecting, as is wont to happen when Duchess is involved. Emmett, understandably angry at the theft of his car and money, does not follow through with striking Duchess the way he planned. Emmett’s growing sense of maturity is reflected as he puts into practice the promise he made Billy to think twice before resorting to violence. By contrast, Duchess remains committed to the “eye for an eye” mentality. Ironically, Duchess’s own inability to mimic Emmett’s growth even while he benefits from it (being excused for the car theft) spells his doom in the end. This is further pressurized by the conspicuous absence of Duchess’s confrontation with his father from the narrative, creating suspense.
While Duchess shows remorse for his actions, and truly plans to make it up to Emmett once Woolly’s trust fund is in their hands, once again, Duchess’s execution and understanding of fairness is flawed. In arranging for Emmett to spend a night with Charity, one of the girls who works with the circus, he truly believes that Emmett will appreciate and enjoy the opportunity, but the result is that Emmett blacks out.
The plot thickens and the stakes rise, as Townhouse informs Emmett of the police investigation that has followed Duchess. The added element of a detective on their trail finally brings in the real-life consequences that the boys have eluded so far, and they are pressing. Billy unexpectedly meets the writer of his treasured book, Professor Abacus Abernathe. Though Duchess led the trip in a bid to shatter some of Billy’s childish naivete, his expectations are subverted when Professor Abernathe turns out to be receptive and welcoming of Billy’s tales. When the narrative doubles back for Woolly’s narration of the same course of events, Duchess’s actions become crueler in spirit as Woolly questions Duchess’s motivations. By contrast, Woolly’s gentle-hearted nature is made clearer by his attempt to shield Billy from the foreseen disappointment.
Fortunately for Billy, the professor is not only present but so inspired that he requests to be taken to Ulysses, whose tumultuous life story intrigues him greatly. The perfect ending to his day inspires Woolly, who has the thought that it has truly been a “one-of-a-kind kind of day,” which was his primary motivation for escaping from Salina. The callback to the beginning of the novel, when Woolly was first introduced as a character searching for the perfect “one-of-a-kind kind of day” brings into question what motivations may be driving Woolly now that his original goal has been met. The subtly-planted detail of the medicine bottle in Sarah’s kitchen rack foreshadows Woolly’s tragic end.
For the moment, however, the fantasy continues into the next day, as Duchess prepares a fantastic meal for the four boys and Sally. For a moment, there is cheer and good tidings, as everyone puts aside their individual goals to enjoy a good meal together. Narratively, this section builds up to the climax that will take place in the following chapter, as the different characters of the novel congregate in the same time and location: Sarah’s house. This is the last moment before the real-world consequences catch up. But the moment is starkly broken when reality crashes in by way of Dennis, Sarah’s husband and Woolly’s despised brother-in-law. Sally, earlier greatly impressed by Duchess’s presentation of dinner, shares a moment of somber shame washing dishes with Emmett in the aftermath.
