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Mrs. Pulnik
The groundskeeper at Ida Murphy and Georgia Tann’s orphanage and Murphy’s cousin. Mr. Riggs is a frightening character for most of the children at the orphanage and there are rumors that if he can catch a child alone, he will hurt them. When Rill Foss and her siblings are brought to the orphanage, Mr. Riggs sneaks into their room and leaves peppermints on their pillow. Because of this, Camellia Foss thinks Riggs wants to be their friend. One day, however, Riggs gets Camellia alone and sexually assaults her. When Rill finds out, she tries to tell Miss Dodd, but Murphy denies that her cousin did it, fires Dodd, and punishes Rill by locking her in the basement for weeks. Later, when Rill is the last Foss child in the orphanage and moved to the upstairs bedroom with the rest of the kids, Riggs catches her out of bed and tries to force her down the stairs, but another staff member catches him and Rill gets away.
Mr. Riggs Quotes in Before We Were Yours
The Before We Were Yours quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Riggs or refer to Mr. Riggs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 14
Quotes
Her hand is knotted in a fist between us. I take it in mine, pry open her fingers to see what she’s holding, and the minute I do, all the cookies and ice cream from the party come up in my throat. Dirty, round peppermints are stuck so tight to my sister’s palm, they’re melted into her skin.
I close my eyes and shake my head and try not to know, but I do. My mind drags me kicking and screaming to Mrs. Murphy’s cellar, into the dark corner behind the stairs where ash coats the coal bin and the boiler furnace. I see thin, strong arms fighting, legs thrashing around. I see a big hand closing over a screaming mouth, the dirty, oily fingers squeezing so hard they leave four round bruises.
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Chapter 16
Quotes
“Perhaps you should have thought of that before you invented some ridiculous story about your fictitious sister and poor Mr. Riggs.”
Blood pounds in my head. I try to make sense of what she’s saying, but I can’t.
“There never was any… Camellia. You and I both know that, don’t we, May? There were four of you when you came here. Two little sisters and one little brother. Only four. And we’ve done a marvelous job in finding homes, thus far. Good homes. And for that, you are most grateful, aren’t you?” She motions to Mrs. Pulnik. […] “There will be no more of this nonsense out of you. Do you understand?”
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Mr. Riggs Quotes in Before We Were Yours
The Before We Were Yours quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Riggs or refer to Mr. Riggs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 14
Quotes
Her hand is knotted in a fist between us. I take it in mine, pry open her fingers to see what she’s holding, and the minute I do, all the cookies and ice cream from the party come up in my throat. Dirty, round peppermints are stuck so tight to my sister’s palm, they’re melted into her skin.
I close my eyes and shake my head and try not to know, but I do. My mind drags me kicking and screaming to Mrs. Murphy’s cellar, into the dark corner behind the stairs where ash coats the coal bin and the boiler furnace. I see thin, strong arms fighting, legs thrashing around. I see a big hand closing over a screaming mouth, the dirty, oily fingers squeezing so hard they leave four round bruises.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16
Quotes
“Perhaps you should have thought of that before you invented some ridiculous story about your fictitious sister and poor Mr. Riggs.”
Blood pounds in my head. I try to make sense of what she’s saying, but I can’t.
“There never was any… Camellia. You and I both know that, don’t we, May? There were four of you when you came here. Two little sisters and one little brother. Only four. And we’ve done a marvelous job in finding homes, thus far. Good homes. And for that, you are most grateful, aren’t you?” She motions to Mrs. Pulnik. […] “There will be no more of this nonsense out of you. Do you understand?”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
