Tuck Everlasting

The next day, Winnie goes into the yard, where she sees the same toad from a few days ago across the road. She goes inside to ask her grandmother for water to give the toad a drink. Her grandmother provides the water, telling Winnie toads don’t drink—they absorb water through their skin. Winnie goes back outside, but the toad is gone. Not knowing what to do, she sits and thinks about Mae.

As she thinks about Mae, Jesse appears on the other side of the fence. He says that the Tucks have a plan to get Mae out, but the constable watches her so closely that they’ll hardly have a chance to get away. Winnie offers to take Mae’s place so the constable won’t notice his prisoner is missing. Jesse agrees and tells her he’ll be back at midnight to get her. He gives her a bottle of the spring’s water and begs her to drink when she’s 17. Jesse leaves, and Winnie clutches the bottle, excited because at midnight “she would make a difference in the world” (117).

The day passes slowly in a haze of heat and restlessness. As evening closes in, the wind picks up, and the air smells like rain is coming. Winnie paces her room, thinking about what she’s going to do. It feels wrong, but she needs to do it because the Tucks were helpless in a way and “they needed her” (122). Winnie falls asleep with her thoughts and wakes at five minutes to midnight, relieved she didn’t miss her chance.

At midnight, Winnie meets Jesse outside, and they join Miles and Tuck at the jailhouse. Miles removes the screws from Mae’s cell window one by one. Under cover of a thunderclap, he pulls free the window, and Mae climbs out.

It begins to rain. The Tucks each envelop Winnie in a hug before Miles helps her through the window and replaces the bars. Winnie waits for him to replace the screws but hears nothing. She looks outside and finds the yard empty: “The Tucks—her darling Tucks—were gone” (128).