Bag of Bones

Mike brings McDonald’s for dinner with Mattie and Kyra. Kyra gets a stuffed dog in her Happy Meal, which momentarily reminds Mike of his dream. Mike names the stuffed dog Strickland, though Kyra can only pronounce it as “Stricken.” Kyra acknowledges the death of her grandfather, declaring that she isn’t sad because Max was old and he will be “fixed up” in Heaven.

While she misses Whitmore, Kyra is aware that Whitmore was only pretending to like her for her job. Kyra learned this from the “fridgeafator people,” referring to the unseen presence that moves around the fridge magnets Mike gave her. Sometimes the magnets spell out other names, including Johanna, Reg, Carla, Jared, and Kito. This gives Mattie reason to believe that Kyra isn’t spelling them out herself since she hasn’t learned to read yet.

While chatting about the upcoming picnic with their legal team, Mike kisses Mattie. Mattie kisses back, indicating that she reciprocates his feelings. She invites him to visit her after Kyra has gone to bed. Mike is scared of his feelings and asks for time to think about it. Before they leave, Mattie shows Mike a message that her fridge magnets sent for him: “[G]o down 92.”

Mike calls Jo’s brother Frank, whose familiarity with Jo’s writing project causes Mike to realize that Frank was the man Jo had been spotted with. Frank assures Mike that Jo wasn’t unfaithful to him, though Frank is unaware that Jo had quit her organizations to pursue her investigation. Frank felt uncomfortable at Sara Laughs, feeling like he was being watched. Jo explicitly asked Frank not to say anything to Mike, stressing, “If he finds out on his own, then it’s meant to be” (348). Jo declared that she would never enter Sara Laughs again.

Frank argues that Jo must have had her reasons for keeping her findings from Mike, other than wanting to surprise him. Frank explains that her findings revealed “how [Mike] found the house” and how “it called him” (351). Mike is stunned by this, having previously assumed that Jo was the one who wanted to buy the house. He soon realizes that Jo’s assertion is correct. The only reason he’d forgotten was that he was too preoccupied by his writing to pay attention to what he was doing.

One of the last things Jo told Frank was that she didn’t want Mike talking to Royce Merrill, afraid that he would reveal something dangerous. Mike connects this to the implication that his family might have come from TR-90. Frank also mentions Kenny Auster, which Mike notes. After they hang up, Mike immediately tries to call Royce, but gets no answer.

The fridge magnets spell out: “[L]ye still.” Mike works on his novel and loses himself in a writing trance for several hours.

Mike has another vivid fever dream that begins with him walking around the lake. He sees Royce Merrill’s cane near the water and knows that Royce is dead.

Mike walks to the nearby Fryeburg Fair, where Sara Tidwell and the Red-Top Boys are performing live. During the performance, Mike confirms his suspicion that Sara and Son are siblings. Seeing the detail of his dream, Mike realizes he is not asleep, but in another subconscious writing trance. When Mike finally reaches Sara’s stage, Kyra appears and catches up to him. She identifies Sara as the mother of Kito, but wonders why she is wearing Mattie’s dress. Kyra asks Mike to take her home because she is scared of Sara.

As Mike and Kyra leave, Sara turns her attention to them, singing that she doesn’t mean to hurt Kyra, but someone else does. Mike hurries to get away, but Sara keeps calling to him, indicating that she has some business she needs to finish and that Mike needs to get out of her way before he can get his comfort.

Mike and Kyra are still on their way out of the fair when they are stopped by a group of ghostly, rotting men. Mike recognizes them from their resemblance to present-day residents of TR-90. The leader of the group is Jared Devore, Max’s great-grandfather. Jared demands Kyra, but Mike refuses to hand her over. Jared sends the men after them, so Mike and Kyra escape into the Ghost House attraction.

Mike uses the features of the Ghost House to shake off their pursuers. They keep moving through the attraction until they reach a set of doors, each one marked with the symbols connected to Mike, Kyra, and Max. Kyra thanks Mike and steps through the door with the red tricycle. Mike goes through the door with the typewriter. The narrow passage leads him back into his living room

Exhausted, Mike returns to bed. He hears a loud scream through the house, which he recognizes as Jo’s. He urges the other spirits to stop hurting her, but he hears more screams.

Mike finds it impossible to access the next part of his manuscript because he is too preoccupied with the mysteries surrounding him in the real world. He writes down notes about the families of TR-90 and considers leaving town with Mattie.

Mattie informs Mike that she has gotten her library job back. Lindy admitted that Whitmore threatened to cut off her financial support if Mattie remained employed by the library. Kyra takes the phone to talk about their shared dream of the Fryeburg Fair. Mike tells Kyra not to tell anyone about their dream, including the “fridgeafator people.” Mike cautions Mattie to be careful around Bill Dean and Kenny Auster, having seen their ancestors among Jared Devore’s gang. Mattie is upset that Max continues to harass them even after his death. Before leaving the house, Mike is reminded by the fridge magnets to “help her.”

Mike talks to the town greenhouse owner, Lila Proulx, about the Austers. The Austers are out of town, though Lila’s response makes Mike suspicious that Lila’s family could be complicit in the town’s dark history as well. Mike learns that Royce Merrill has experienced an accidental fall at home and is in a coma.

Mike visits Bill, who acknowledges that he has been trying to break contact with Mike because of his continued dealings with Mattie. Mike is angry that Bill keeps insinuating their relationship is sexual. He confronts Bill about his father’s role in the death of Son Tidwell’s child. Bill denies this. Mike pressures him with the memory of Jo, indicating that she must have discovered the truth about the Tidwells’ fate. Bill tells him to stop interfering with the natural course of the world.

Mike calls Brenda, who is worried about being associated with him now that his relationship with Bill has turned hostile. Bill had already scolded her for telling Mike about the murder of Kenny Auster’s brother, Kerry. Mike asks her about Carla Dean and learns that she was the twin sister of Bill. Carla died in the wildfire caused by Max.

Mike draws a connection between all the children who have been occupying his thoughts and realizes that all their names start with “C” or “K.” The coincidence is so strong that it scares Mike. Fearing for Kyra’s life, he decides that he needs to leave Sara Laughs. Just then, a spiritual presence forces him to write down “help her” and “don’t go” over and over.

Mike goes to the Village Cafe for dinner. He learns that Royce has died and that there will be a funeral for him on the same day as Mattie’s victory picnic. Someone unseen leaves a note for Mike, telling him to leave town.

Storrow tells Mike that Max has left $80 million for Mattie in his will, provided that she does not leave TR-90 for one year. Mike suspects that Max has something devious planned, but Storrow assures him that he can have the condition struck down.

Mike watches a weather forecast predicting violent storms over the next few days. Brenda calls him to tell him she can no longer work for him for fear of her life. She had a nightmare in which she came to believe that something at Sara Laughs was mad at her. Brenda urges Mike to leave before Royce’s funeral for his safety. The fridge magnets tell him to stay.

Mike sees that all the fridge magnets are suddenly missing. Mike later learns that Kyra’s magnets have gone missing as well. She claims that a “demon” took them, which made her sad. Mattie reports that sometime the previous night, she had felt a cold presence in her trailer that made her think that Max was there, though she was too scared to check what it was. Mattie suspects that Kyra might have been sleepwalking and disposed of the magnets herself. Mattie asks Mike to come over, but Mike says he is still contemplating the implications of a relationship with her. He spends the rest of that day in a trance, though instead of writing he walks down the road near his house. Reality feels thin to him and he has clear psychic visions of what Mattie and Kyra are doing in the present moment.

Mike passes by Jo’s studio on the way home. He calls out to Jo and tells her that he misses her before crying. He wonders if Jo is the one sending him the message to “help her.” He gets no response. Later that night, he wakes up and sees Sara Tidwell in bed beside him. She tells him she has almost returned before disappearing.

On Tuesday morning, Mike gets the idea to look through the telephone book for answers to the messages telling him to go down 19 and 92. This yields nothing insightful, other than the discovery that an unusual number of people in TR-90 have names that begin with letters “C” or “K.” This causes Mike to realize that Sara Tidwell’s son, Kito, had drowned in Dark Score Lake, and that his haunting has extended to the naming of children in the area.

Mike picks up Storrow from the airport. They bump into Romeo Bissonette and George Kennedy, who give Mike a Stenomask. Mike initially panics, thinking it is an oxygen mask like the one belonging to Max Devore. Bissonette and Kennedy follow Mike and Storrow to Mattie’s trailer.

On the road, Storrow plays a tape for Mike. It is a recording of his interview with Whitmore, which frightens Mike. Whitmore is audibly angry over Mattie’s custody victory. Mike can hardly focus because his mind keeps slipping in and out of a trance state. He knows, however, that Whitmore passed that message along to scare him. Mike tells Storrow about his violent encounter with Max and Whitmore. He urges Storrow not to say anything to Mattie.