Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe

While she is supposed to be resting, Cricket searches the house. She finds a copy of Treasure Island, books of poetry, and puzzles. Cricket finds a photo of a younger Miss V. with a man in paint-spattered clothes. She thinks that this man could be Bob. Inside a baby grand piano, Cricket finds what she thinks is a tuning rod with a carved wooden handle. The handle has a tiny tanager carved into it. The bird holds a star in its beak, and beneath it the words “Worthy #2.”

Miss V. comes inside and shows Cricket a newspaper. On the front page, there is an article about Cricket. The whole town is searching for her, and Aunt Belinda is quoted saying that she suspects foul play. The church has raised $600 to support the search efforts. Cricket begs Miss V. not to turn her in just yet. She asks to be allowed to stay just two more days, at which point Mama will return. Grudgingly, Miss V. agrees, but she asks Cricket not to snoop. Cricket wonders what might be hidden upstairs.

After dinner, Miss V. plays the piano, and Cricket pretends to fall asleep. Miss V. puts a blanket over Cricket and heads to bed. As soon as Cricket hears Miss V.’s snores, she creeps upstairs. The upstairs appears normal at first: no tanagers or other clues. However, there is something strange about the layout. Cricket realizes that there is a room missing.

Cricket figures that there is a room missing because she remembers how many windows are on the outside of the house, and they do not match up with the number of windows inside. She finds a hidden door. It is locked, but when Cricket looks through the keyhole, she sees a room painted with birds. Her eyes settle on a red bird. It is a tanager. She has found the Bird Room.

Cricket finds a key hidden behind a painting on the wall. She unlocks the door and steps into the Bird Room. Each wall of the room represents a different season. There are birds and other forest creatures painted everywhere in intricate detail among trees and foliage. There is a tanager painted on each of the four walls, even the wall depicting winter. This part of the painting strikes Cricket as odd because tanagers migrate south for the winter. She finds a knothole on the winter wall that contains a letter from Bob. The letter says that he is leaving, but that he has left a treasure “for whoever can follow the light to find it” (143). At the bottom, there is another message: “Start with the treasure in this house” (145).

Cricket discovers a leak in the roof that is damaging the Bird Room. She wonders why Miss V. wanted to hide the Bird Room, who Bob was, and what the treasure inside the house is.

Cricket wakes the next morning feeling optimistic. She is relieved to have found the Bird Room. Miss V. shows Cricket another story about her in the newspaper. The story talks about efforts to try and find both Cricket and her mother. Cricket’s neighbors describe Mama as having “a long history of mental issues and instability” (150). Cricket does not like the way they talk about Mama. She does not think Mama has a mental illness, but she wonders if the things she loves about her mother are “signs of some craziness” (151), and if that means that Cricket has a mental illness too.

Cricket goes outside and helps Miss V. chop up pine wood to patch the roof. Miss V. reads from a Walt Whitman poem aloud: “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes)” (154).

After breakfast, Miss V. confronts Cricket: She knows she snuck into the Bird Room. Cricket apologizes and tells Miss V. the whole story about Mama and the Bird Room. She says that she needs to show Mama the Bird Room to prove that she didn’t imagine or hallucinate it. Miss V. suggests that maybe Mama is not ready to see Cricket and that the room might not change anything. She says that Cricket should go back to her aunt, but Cricket is thinking about the treasure.

Cricket tells Miss V. about the clue referring to treasure inside the house. Miss V. is skeptical that a treasure even exists, but she gives Cricket until the day after tomorrow to find it. Cricket wants to see the Bird Room again, but Miss V. is reluctant to let her back inside.

Cricket spends the rest of the day helping Miss V. in the garden and asking to return to the room before Miss V. agrees. Inside, Cricket asks what happened to Bob. Miss V. avoids the question. Cricket shows her the note in the knothole. Miss V. tells Cricket that she and Bob were childhood friends and that when they were older, she took care of him after he “walked out of the woods, empty-pocketed and with a bad case of the nerves” (161). Cricket has an idea.

Downstairs, Cricket gets the copy of Treasure Island from Miss V’s bookcase; she thinks it is the “treasure” Bob referred to. Cricket flips through the book and finds a written note telling her to go to page 218. Page 218 has a similar instruction, and Cricket follows the notes until she gets to page 260. The words “steps outside” are underlined. Cricket closes the book and notices smudges on the page edges. She fans the book pages out a bit and sees the words “Constellation at 5:30 in my room at the magic hour” (164).

Miss V. explains that the magic hour was Bob’s favorite time. It is the hour before the sun sets when the light is golden. Unfortunately, they have missed it for today, so they will have to see it tomorrow. That evening, Cricket remembers Mama telling her that she would give her the moon to watch over her. She worries that Mama was planning on leaving for a while. For all of Aunt Belinda’s faults, she never runs off and always makes sure to feed her children. Cricket wishes Mama could “be like a cardinal and stick around all year” (167).

The next day, Miss V. keeps Cricket busy shoveling chicken poop to make the soil healthier. Cricket’s dad taught her how to make good soil for their garden. She remembers the day of his funeral; some people found Mama and made her attend. She was late to the funeral, but Cricket thought they would get a chance to talk afterward. However, when the funeral was over, Mama left without saying a word to Cricket. Cricket hopes that tomorrow, March 1, will be different. Cricket opens a cabinet and sees a note from Bob. It is the riddle that Miss V. asked Cricket when she first arrived. The note is old, but Miss V. has never solved it. Cricket feels like she does not have answers for anyone.