The Mysterious Benedict Society: Chapter 38 Summary & Analysis

The group makes their way through the passage and out to the shore, where a boat is waiting. Milligan drops Mr. Curtain on the ground to help the children into the boat. Everyone is climbing onto the deck when Sticky cries out, and everyone realizes that Mr. Curtain has freed himself and is running away. Milligan fires his tranquilizer gun, but Mr. Curtain dodges the dart and disappears into the secret passage. Milligan grimly tells the children that his priority is their safety, so he won’t chase after Mr. Curtain. As he prepares to shove the boat from shore, he gently whispers to Kate that he will teach her a better knot.

Sticky asks what will happen if Mr. Curtain stops Mr. Benedict from disabling the Whisperer, and Rhonda answers that Mr. Benedict has instructed them all to go into hiding. Milligan expertly navigates the boat to the mainland, but Constance shouts at him for leaving Mr. Benedict. They arrive at the mainland and load into a station wagon.

Before he leaves to retrieve Mr. Benedict, Milligan tells the story of escaping the Waiting Room. In the story, Milligan holds his breath for several minutes and swims to the bottom of the mud, where he pries apart the floorboards and chisels through the mortar. While under the mud, his desperation to return to the children reminds him of how he felt when he first woke up with “Milligan” as his only memory. He realizes that the voice saying “Milligan” belonged to a child. He recalls a mill pond, and he pictures a little girl swimming there. She asks if they can return to the mill, and he promises that they will go to the mill again. “Mill again” becomes “Milligan,” as Milligan understands that his name is his unkept promise to his daughter. Once he remembers this, the rest of his memories return.

Kate fails to hold back tears. She has been so excited to have her father back, and now he intends to leave on mission to rescue Mr. Benedict, which is “not just dangerous—hopeless.” She fiercely insists that either Milligan will stay with her, or she will go with him. Reynie alerts everyone to Mr. Curtain, who is leading a troop of Recruiters across the bridge toward them. Milligan plans to distract the enemies, but Reynie tells everyone to stay put. He asks them to trust him, and every person in the car realizes that they trust Reynie entirely.

Mr. Curtain stops at the end of the bridge. He orders the Recruiters to turn back, insisting that the station wagon is a decoy. The Recruiters march back across the bridge. Once they are gone, Mr. Curtain rises from his wheelchair and approaches the station wagon. Milligan aims his tranquilizer gun at Mr. Curtain, but Reynie stops him, revealing Mr. Curtain to be Mr. Benedict in disguise. Milligan is stunned; he has never seen Mr. Benedict speak as unkindly as he did to the Recruiters. Reynie explains that he identified Mr. Benedict by the man’s unwieldy driving of the wheelchair. With the group reunited, Number Two drives the station wagon away from the island.