Chapter 12 Summary, Key Events, and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Chapter 12 opens the morning after Mallory discovered the disturbing drawings of Anya being buried. Teddy greets her at the main house, staging an elaborate pretend restaurant in the kitchen. He seats her among his stuffed animals and takes her order with a notepad and pencil. Caroline is upstairs, rushing to leave, and the landline rings. It’s the third message from Spring Brook Elementary about Teddy’s enrollment, and Caroline takes the call in the den, speaking in short, noncommittal phrases. After she hangs up, she tells Teddy the principal can’t wait to meet him, then hurries out the door.

Mallory and Teddy spend the morning playing Enchanted Forest in the backyard. They follow the Yellow Brick Road and Dragon Pass, climb the Giant Beanstalk, and stock a hollow with rocks and sticks as a goblin arsenal. During the game, Mallory asks Teddy about the pictures of Anya being buried that she found on her porch. Teddy looks confused and denies drawing them, insisting he doesn’t draw Anya anymore. He asks to go back to playing regular Enchanted Forest, and Mallory drops the subject. After lunch, Teddy goes upstairs for Quiet Time, and Mallory listens at his door, hearing the soft scratch of a pencil moving across paper.

That afternoon, Russell calls and invites Mallory to dinner, saying he’s leaving for a two-week vacation and it has to be that night. He’s booked a table at a Cheesecake Factory near her house. Mallory considers bringing the drawings to show him but decides against it, wanting to project an image of strength and not burden her sponsor. At the restaurant, Russell presses her about her sleep and her mood. He reveals that Caroline called him, worried about Mallory’s behavior—digging through trash cans at seven in the morning, talking about ghosts, and befriending Mitzi, a neighbor Russell describes as a user. Mallory denies using and deflects, but Russell warns her that she needs this job and that losing it could mean losing her place at Safe Harbor. He also asks about Ted, wondering if the father is “handsy,” which Mallory dismisses.

After dessert, Russell insists on driving Mallory home. When she starts shaking, he asks why. She deflects, but then volunteers to take a drug test using the dip cards in his glove box. Russell reluctantly agrees. Back at the cottage, Mallory tests the stun gun Caroline gave her, and they go inside. She provides a urine sample, and the test comes back clean. Russell flushes the sample, says he’s proud of her, and leaves for his vacation.

Alone, Mallory locks the door and changes into pajamas. When she walks to the kitchen to retrieve her tablet, she finds the drawings pinned to her refrigerator with magnets. The pages are warm and damp, as if just removed from an oven. She yanks them off, locks both windows, checks the hatch in the floor (still nailed shut), and drags her bed to barricade the door. She then weighs three possible explanations: the Maxwells, who have a key but no plausible motive; Teddy, who would have to be a magical artistic savant; or Anya, who might be controlling Teddy’s hand and somehow carrying the drawings into the cottage. She concludes that the most impossible explanation—Anya—seems the most likely, and she resolves to find a way to prove it.

Key Events

Teddy stages a pretend restaurant, and Caroline takes a call about his school enrollment.
Mallory and Teddy play Enchanted Forest; Mallory confronts Teddy about the Anya drawings, and he denies making them.
Mallory hears pencil scratching from Teddy’s room during Quiet Time.
Russell invites Mallory to dinner and reveals Caroline’s concerns about her behavior.
Mallory denies using, but agrees to a drug test, which comes back clean.
After Russell leaves, Mallory finds the drawings pinned to her refrigerator, warm and damp.
Mallory locks the cottage, barricades the door, and considers three theories about the drawings’ origin.

Character Development

Mallory is increasingly isolated and paranoid. She hides the drawings from Russell because she wants him to be proud of her, and she suppresses her fears rather than sharing them. Her decision to volunteer for a drug test shows both her desire to prove her sobriety and her need for companionship—she admits she wants company walking back to the cottage because she’s afraid to go home alone. Her final act of barricading the door and weighing supernatural explanations marks a shift from passive anxiety to active investigation.

Russell embodies the sponsor’s dilemma: he wants to trust Mallory, but her behavior triggers his concern. He asks tough questions, warns her about the stakes of losing her job, and ultimately accepts her clean test result. His departure for two weeks leaves Mallory without her primary support system.

Teddy remains a source of ambiguity. His denial of the drawings is convincing, but the pencil scratching during Quiet Time suggests he is still drawing something. His preference for “regular Enchanted Forest” over the darker subject matter hints at a child who may be unaware of—or unwilling to acknowledge—what his hand is producing.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Gaslighting and doubt: Mallory is made to feel like she’s going crazy, and the chapter forces her to question her own perceptions. The drawings appearing inside her locked cottage intensify this theme.
Sobriety and recovery: The drug test is a literal measure of trust. Mallory’s fear of relapse and her need to prove her stability are central to her interactions with Russell.
Trust vs. suspicion: Mallory hides her fears from Russell, and Caroline’s report to him creates a web of surveillance and concern. The chapter explores how secrets erode trust.
The supernatural vs. the rational: Mallory’s three theories—the Maxwells, Teddy, or Anya—represent a spectrum from mundane to paranormal. Her conclusion that the supernatural is most likely signals her growing belief in the impossible.
Protective measures: The stun gun, locked windows, and barricaded door symbolize Mallory’s escalating sense of danger and her attempt to control her environment.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter escalates the central mystery from unsettling discoveries to an active threat. Mallory’s decision to investigate rather than dismiss the drawings marks a turning point in her character arc. The chapter also deepens the theme of isolation: Mallory cannot confide in Russell, and Caroline’s concerns push her further from the family she works for. The final image of the warm, damp drawings on the refrigerator—inside her locked cottage—raises the stakes and sets up the investigation that will drive the rest of the novel.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Mallory decide not to show Russell the drawings?

Mallory wants Russell to feel proud of her and to see her as a strong, capable woman thriving in recovery. She believes her worries sound ridiculous and doesn’t want to burden him, so she stashes the drawings in her nightstand before dinner.

2. What are the three explanations Mallory considers for the drawings on her refrigerator, and why does she choose Anya?

She considers the Maxwells, who have a key but no plausible motive; Teddy, who would need to be a magical artistic savant to produce such realistic drawings; and Anya, who might be controlling Teddy’s hand and carrying the drawings into the cottage. She chooses Anya because the other two explanations seem impossible, and the most impossible explanation seems the most likely.

3. How does the drug test function symbolically in this chapter?

It represents trust and proof. Mallory volunteers for the test to demonstrate her sobriety and to have Russell’s company walking back to the cottage. The clean result temporarily reassures Russell, but it does nothing to address the real source of Mallory’s fear—the supernatural drawings—highlighting the gap between what can be tested and what cannot.