51 pages • 1 hour read
Ryan AndrewsThis Was Our Pact
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “Madam Majestic and the Avian Cartographer”
Chapter 4 begins with a wordless, frameless, two-page spread that depicts the entrance to Madam Majestic’s cave. The platform the boys are traveling on is tiny in this enormous space, and it throws a small shadow against the light blue and white clouds that roll through the bottom of the drawing. Inset frames at the bottom of the page offer close-ups that encapsulate Ben’s reaction to the cave entrance: On the right is the cave’s entrance, glowing with pink light, and on the left is Ben’s alarmed face, two pink rectangles in his glasses reflecting the light coming from the cave.
The boys land at the cave entrance and enter; the visuals’ colors shift from dark blue to light pink inside the cave. There is an ornate door bearing the name “Madam Majestic.” Since neither boy wants to knock, they agree to do so together. At their knock, the door swings open and they step into a large interior room depicted in dark blues and purples. Madam Majestic shouts from another room, mockingly asking if they need a map to find her, as well. The boys are alarmed when she warns them to stay out of one of the other rooms, as “the last thing [she needs] tonight is someone dying up there” (119). They rush down a set of stairs toward the voice to find a small older woman working at a table covered with chemistry equipment; her eyes are enormous behind thick glasses, and both the woman and the room are depicted in shades of purple and pink. Sebastian, a large white dog, bounds toward Ben and Nathaniel, but the woman calls him off, telling him to leave her “customers” alone. Nathaniel is disappointed, but Ben is relieved.
Two close-up frames in gray and pink show Madam Majestic pulling a tooth from an old human skull. She drops the tooth into a blender. She explains that she is very busy because it is an important night and her assistant has called in sick; she rushes around the laboratory tending to her various potions. She continues to be abrupt, sarcastic, and ill-tempered as she talks to the boys, and Nathaniel chides her gently for being mean. When she is finally done with her other business, she unlocks a cabinet and takes out a drop of “Eye of the Cartographer” (130). She calls forth an enormous crow named Margaret, bribing the bird with a sugar cube; the boys find the crow terrifying, but Madam Majestic simply asks Margaret to turn her head and drops the Eye of the Cartographer extract into the crow’s eye. Margaret’s eye glows white, blank and round like a lantern, and she flies off into the night.
Back in the lab, Madam Majestic explains that she and the other people the boys saw on their way to her cave are the “lake dwellers,” and this is an important night for them since very special guests are visiting from far away. She expresses astonishment that Ben and Nathaniel have no idea what guests she is talking about. She explains that once a year, “The Enlightened Ones” visit the village to mark the autumnal equinox. “I thought EVERYONE knew that,” she says (139). Madam Majestic expresses concern that the Enlightened Ones will get lost. They navigate using the Milky Way, but the full moon will make this feature of the sky hard to see. Her most important task this evening is to create a potion that will temporarily block out the moon’s light. She asks whether the boys would like to stay to witness the important guests’ arrival, but they explain about their own equinox tradition and their current quest to see if the lanterns really do fly away into the stars.
Margaret’s return is depicted in a humorously chaotic panel in which the boys, Margaret, Sebastian, and Madam Majestic are crowded together behind word balloons that cover most of the panel’s space: Margaret caws, Sebastian howls, the boys laugh, and Madam Majestic barks out flustered commands. She then rolls out a huge sheet of paper and provides Margaret with a large pot of ink. Margaret uses her beak to draw: The elaborately detailed map she creates becomes a two-page spread. Ben and Nathaniel study the map briefly, but Madam Majestic snatches it up and demands that they pay her for the map and get going so that she can get back to work. The boys, unaware that she would expect payment, confess that they have no money. Madam Majestic tells them that they can work off what they owe her by cleaning her cellar. When they try to get away, Sebastian helps Madam Majestic herd them down the stairs into the cellar. Madam Majestic hands them some cleaning supplies and tells them they owe her 30 hours’ worth of cleaning services. Ben angrily sits on the stairs, refusing to work; but when Madam Majestic calls through the door that they should start with the terrarium, Nathaniel snaps on the light and starts down the stairs, eager to see the terrarium.
Chapter 5 Summary: “The Musty Cellar”
Nathaniel runs down a long flight of stairs lit with bright yellow light. He eagerly explores the cellar, donning a festive sweater he finds and calling back to Ben in excitement when he discovers shelves full of old science books. He is especially happy to find a very old book on astronomy, and he puts it in his backpack so that he can show it to his father. He reminds Ben of the hours they used to spend together at the planetarium looking at astronomy books and using the telescope. Ben’s favorite thing to look at was the Andromeda Galaxy. Then, Nathaniel is distracted by a stash of animal costumes. He puts on a bear head and asks Ben if he wants one, as well. Ben tells him he looks “[l]ike a dork” and refuses the offer (163). Ben says that the bear head looks real and guesses that the fisherbear would not appreciate Nathaniel wearing it. At Nathaniel’s request, Ben tosses him a cleaning rag and a spray bottle. Since he believes the only way out of the cellar is to do what Madam Majestic has asked them to do, Nathaniel intends to start cleaning. When he finds the terrarium and spots a giant lizard inside, he cries out in excitement, and Ben finally comes down the stairs. The two boys stare in wonder at the huge enclosure.
Ben tells Nathaniel that he should be doing more to try to get them out of their current predicament, since it is Nathaniel’s fault that they are trapped in the cellar to begin with. The yellow light of the cellar turns slightly orange as they begin to argue. The scene darkens to black, purple, and orange as Ben tells Nathaniel that he did not want him along on the journey in the first place. The next set of panels returns to orange as Nathaniel silently begins cleaning the terrarium glass. In a predominantly purple panel, the two boys are depicted through the terrarium glass. They are at the far ends of the panel, separated and surrounded by tall plants. Nathaniel silently cleans, and Ben says, “I didn’t mean it” (168). However, Nathaniel replies, “Yes, you did” (168). The next panels are all in various shades of orange as the two clean the glass without speaking, gradually getting closer to one another. Ben asks about the lizard Nathaniel saw. Its enormous face—very like that of the creature from under Toad Canyon Bridge with its two lantern-like eyes—appears on the other side of the glass in a red-orange panel, and Ben screams. After the boys take a moment to calm down, Nathaniel admits that, having seen it a little closer now, he is not even sure it is a lizard.
They hear Madam Majestic yelling above them. The scene turns yellow as Ben runs up the stairs and peeks through a crack in the door. Madam Majestic is upset because the piece of star she needs for her potion is missing. Ben yells through the door that she should send one of them to get what she needs. The next panel cuts to Nathaniel, standing alone and small in a frameless white space. “Send ONE of us?” he asks (173). Madam Majestic, now depicted in calmer pink and purple colors, lets Ben out of the cellar and explains his task: He must row a boat to the cave where she farms artificial stars and retrieve a piece of the sun. Ben nervously asks how he will recognize which star is the sun, and she tells him that he would be stupid to miss it. Sebastian will go with him to make sure he does not try to escape; Ben can fix the star to the dog’s collar and then resume his hunt for the lanterns. The north end of the star cave opens into the ocean, she explains. Ben can row along the shore and make landfall where the river approaches the ocean. She sends Margaret to fetch Ben’s bike.
Ben is ecstatic; he carries the map with him as, followed closely by Sebastian, he races outside to the waiting boat. He is frightened as he gets into the boat, which is suspended high above the water. Sebastian jumps in, wearing the scarf the fisherbear gave to Nathaniel. As Ben points out that Nathaniel will want the scarf later, he is interrupted by Margaret dropping his bike into the now wildly swaying boat. He flips a switch to begin the boat’s descent. As he passes a square of yellow light, he realizes that it is a window into the cellar. He sees Nathaniel alone, cleaning. He tells Sebastian that Nathaniel will be fine and that Madam Majestic will let Nathaniel go soon. He does not succeed in convincing himself, however. A series of wordless panels show Ben’s worried face in the deep blue night as he reconsiders and reverses the switch, sending the boat back upward. He calls to Margaret, pretending that she brought the wrong bike. He asks her to go back for the other bike. Ben calls through the cellar window to Nathaniel. Nathaniel is delighted and relieved to see Ben, who lowers the fisherbear’s long scarf for Nathaniel to climb up. Nathaniel says that he has to get something first; after a moment, he starts to ascend. Just as he arrives at the window, Margaret deposits Nathaniel’s bike in the boat with a crash.
As the two boys descend toward the water, Nathaniel shares his conviction that this escape is what Ben had planned all along when he got Madam Majestic to send him on this errand. He suggests a truce: He will forget the mean things Ben has said to him, and Ben will forget that Nathaniel’s decisions led to them being locked in the cellar. Ben is relieved that Nathaniel is not mad at him anymore. Nathaniel explains that he came to the conclusion that they will have to work as a team in order to complete their quest. He offers Ben a bear hat like his own; this is what he went to retrieve from the cellar before he climbed to the boat. Ben accepts it but does not put it on. Still aware that Ben did not want him along on the journey in the first place, Nathaniel says that after they find out where the lanterns go, he might just go home. A close-up panel shows Ben’s startled expression. Nathaniel asks if they have a truce, and Ben signals his agreement by donning the bear hat. When they reach the lake, Sebastian surprises them by bounding away across the water’s surface. They begin rowing after him, working together to keep the boat moving in a straight line.
Chapters 4-5 Analysis
Chapter 4 and 5 focus on the theme of Cultivating Positivity and a Sense of Wonder. Madam Majestic’s name over the ornate door inside the cave indicates that the boys are about to enter a marvelous realm. When they step inside, pink and purple light suffuse the scenes, marking the mystical nature of this episode. Madam Majestic’s cave is filled with esoteric items: books and instruments, flasks and beakers bubbling away, and mysterious ingredients like skulls and extracts taken from eyeballs. She has enormous trained crows, and one of them, Margaret, is capable of drawing detailed maps with her beak. Even Madam Majestic’s dog seems to be touched by magic: Sebastian knows, somehow, to bring the fisherbear’s scarf when he and Ben exit the cave, and at the end of Chapter 5, Sebastian actually walks on water. In this environment, Nathaniel’s capacity for awe is on full display. Despite being Madam Majestic’s captive, he runs eagerly down the cellar stairs to see the terrarium. He delights in the books he finds and immediately begins dressing himself in the old clothes and costumes he finds. He is thrilled by what he thinks is a giant lizard in the terrarium. This “lizard” turns out to be a creature that is much more similar to the enormous troll figure lurking under Toad Canyon Bridge in Chapter 1. The reappearance of this creature is yet another element of the mystical atmosphere in these chapters.
The presence of the creature from the bridge underscores another aspect of Madam Majestic’s realm, as well: Just as crossing Toad Canyon Bridge exposed the boys to both exciting adventure and potential dangers, crossing into Madam Majestic’s world also exposes Ben and Nathaniel to new wonders and perils. Madam Majestic can help them, and sometimes she behaves like an eccentric, kindly grandmother figure: She explains things, she offers them tea, and she creates a map for them. At other times, she is menacing: She is sarcastic and abrupt, she scoffs at their lack of understanding of her world, and eventually, she locks them in the cellar and demands that they work off their debt to her. Sometimes, her frenetic energy is comical—in many pink and purple panels, she zooms around her laboratory, frantically creating and tending to her many potions, to humorous effect. At other times, however, her intensity has an angry and dangerous edge: Her words or whole scenes are depicted in a bright yellow that contrasts sharply with the more muted colors used in the rest of the story. Madam Majestic demonstrates that everything has a price. While her map literally has a price, on a metaphorical level, the boys’ interactions with her show that embracing adventure means also embracing potential risks—they discover this when they are locked in the cellar with no way out.
In Chapter 5, Nathaniel exhibits some ambivalence about continuing the journey. His decision to take the astronomy book so that he can share it with his father indicates that he does not really expect to be away from home forever. When the two boys are descending to the lake in Madam Majestic’s boat, Nathaniel comes right out and says that he is thinking about just going home after they discover where the lanterns go. His ambivalence shows that Nathaniel is no longer just the excited and determined child he was when the story began: The journey has shown him that the world is more complicated than he expected. Not only has Nathaniel just been held captive by Madam Majestic, but he has learned that regaining Ben’s friendship is not simply a matter of showing up. Ben makes this very clear to Nathaniel when they are locked in the cellar. Nathaniel’s open heart is bruised by the realities of their journey, and he craves the protection of adults and the comforts of home.
For his part, Ben shows a great deal of growth toward the end of Chapter 5. A turning point in Ben’s journey toward Balancing Perseverance and Flexibility occurs when he literally flips a switch and begins the ascent back toward the cellar window. When he first runs out of Madam Majestic’s cave, all he can focus on is his own opportunity to continue his quest—but when he passes this window, his conscience stirs. He sees Nathaniel alone and trapped, and although he tries to convince himself that this is temporary and he can ethically leave Nathaniel behind, his conscience wins out and he makes the decision to return and rescue Nathaniel.
With this decision, he also makes progress toward understanding The Importance of Open-Mindedness. Ben looks shocked by Nathaniel’s wavering about continuing their journey after they find out where the lanterns go. In this moment, he truly understands how his words and actions impact Nathaniel. Immediately afterward, he tries to undo some of the damage he has caused by accepting the truce that Nathaniel offers and putting on the bear costume, though he complained earlier about it being “dorky.” Though Ben previously found Nathaniel’s enthusiasm and openness off-putting, he learns to slowly embrace it and begins to take even the unexpected elements of their adventure in stride. The boys are now symbolically unified—with both of them wearing their bear hats—and they guide their boat across the water by rowing in unison, as equals.
