Tag Line: Rock-a-bye-bye-baby...
From the Back of the Book: Her dream job is about to turn into a nightmare. Becky can hardly believe it. Spending the summer as a mother's helper on a romantic island, earning money for college and working on her tan at the same time - what a lucky break! Too bad....Becky's luck is about to change. Soon the accidents will start happening - and the phone calls. Suddenly Becky's island paradise will seem more like a prison. Becky will be plenty scared then. Mother's helper is going to need all the help she can get.
This book was published in 1991. I'd never read it before. I went into the book with mixed feelings. I liked Final Exam but Party Line is in my top 3 most hated PH's. I guess Mother's Helper is going to break the tie for me. Shall we start?
We begin with our protagonist Becky. She's outside working on her tan while the baby naps. It's not her baby, so calm down, judgy pants. She's working as a mother's helper to save up some money for college next year. I'm assuming that means she still has a year of high school to go after this summer concludes.
Becky is pretty smug about landing this cushy job. Everyone else she knows is flipping burgers in gloomy Seattle while she's soaking up the sun on an isolated island. Her job is pretty easy. She does light housework and some cooking while taking care of a one-year-old boy named Devon. The hours are long, but she enjoys it.
She hears someone approaching and she's startled. No one is supposed to be there. Her employer, Mrs Nelson, picked this cabin because it was isolated and private. A boy about her age comes out of the trees and seems just as surprised to see her as she is to see him. He says his name is Cleve and he's there looking for the man that Mrs Nelson rented the cabin from. Becky explains that they'll be living in the cabin for the summer and Cleve asks her who "they" are. Becky lies and tells him that it's just her and her aunt.
Cleve gets a little creepy at this point and tells her that he likes her hair. She's used to that. Her hair is long enough to sit on and she likes the fact that people comment on it so much. Cleve, however, is making her nervous. He doesn't pick up on her cues and goes on and on about her hair. He tells her that she looks like Rapunzel and that he really likes fairy tales. It comes across as gross and smarmy. When he finally moves on from her hair, he just gets more creepy and asks her how she likes the solitude of the island. In truth, Becky finds the place lonely and Mrs Nelson gets on her nerves but she just tells him that she likes everything just fine.
Cleve seems to hear the part she didn't say and tells her that a lot of people come to the island seeking the quiet and then find that they don't like it as much as they thought they would. It's not an easy place to come and go from either unless you have your own boat. And, of course, he has his own boat. Becky isn't fond of boats because she can't swim.
Cleve tells her to look him up if she ever gets to town. It's small, but because it's catered to tourists, there's plenty to do. He finally takes off. Becky thinks going to town sounds nice and would relieve her cabin fever but she realizes that she never asked Mrs Nelson when her nights off are. I find it hard to believe that she'd take a job and not ask when her time off was. She's already been on the island for 10 days and she's never had a chance to go anywhere. She's super bored.
Becky goes back inside and gets things ready for when Devon wakes up. All of his stuff is brand new. I'm suspicious already. Mrs Nelson has a strict schedule for him, including when his diaper is to be changed. She says that he needs to learn discipline and that requires a schedule. Good luck with that, lady. I've never known a baby that pooped on a schedule.
That evening, Becky tells Mrs Nelson that she'd like a little time off to go into town and do some shopping. Mrs Nelson instantly gets tense and Becky rushes to reassure her that she won't talk about Devon to anyone. This doesn't sound normal. Am I the only one that thinks Devon is probably kidnapped? He's totally kidnapped, right? After a lot of thought, Mrs Nelson finally agrees that Becky can go to town to do her shopping after Devon goes to bed as long as she doesn't talk to anyone. This is so messed up.
It's getting dark by the time Devon is fast asleep and Becky has to walk through the woods to get into town. She's determined to go no matter how scary it is. As she walks, she passes another cabin and runs into Cleve. He asks her if she's a damsel in need of rescuing and she tartly replies that she is usually the rescuer and not the rescuee. This brings up a memory of the time she rescued her brother from drowning in a wading pool and we hear yet AGAIN that she can't swim. Bates has certainly put a giant "PLOT POINT HERE" neon sign on this no swimming thing. Gee, do you think this will become important at some point in the story? Nah, me neither.
Cleve is still creepy but Becky walks to town with him anyway. They get ice cream and explore the town. Cleve tells her that since she insists on being so mysterious, he's made up a story for her. He thinks her father is rich and owns a lot of corporations. She's his only child and she's become a target for some kidnappers so her father hid her on the island with her aunt. Becky is startled because, without knowing it, Cleve has come very close to telling DEVON'S story.
Becky has been told that Mr Nelson is a very powerful man and some people threatened to kidnap Devon unless he paid them a big sum of money, so Mrs Nelson took Devon and disappeared. Sorry. I don't buy it. He was totally kidnapped, Becky. Trust me.
Becky doesn't want Cleve to know he's hit a nerve so she plays along and says now she has to figure out if he's a good guy or a bad guy hired to track her down. He gets a little tense and tells her that he's definitely a good guy. Becky decides she's been too suspicious and she should accept his claim of being the good guy in her story because it's just good judgment to automatically believe everything some strange, stalkerish, fairy-tale obsessed guy says to you. {sarcasm}
Becky has fun with Cleve and she hopes that she will somehow see him again. When she gets back to the cabin, Mrs Nelson is asleep on the couch. She awakens and asks Becky about her shopping trip. Becky mentions she went to the library and they allowed her to check out books using her card from home. For some reason this seems to alarm Mrs Nelson and she asks if she can borrow Becky's card to go to the library because she left hers behind when she fled. Becky hands it over.
There's a weird moment where Becky opens her purse to find cheerios inside and the giant "PLOT POINT HERE" sign makes another appearance as we're told that Devon likes to secretly put things in her purse. She's helpful, that Bates. I mean, I might have missed that important tidbit entirely if she hadn't hit me over the head with it.
The next day Mrs Nelson comes home unexpectedly (wait....where does she go??) and says that the truck with the washer and dryer just came in on the ferry and they'll be delivered any minute. Becky is thrilled she won't have to wash all the clothes in the sink anymore, but there's no time to do a dance of appreciation because she has to hurry to hide any trace of Devon from the main part of the house.
She notes that Devon calls Mrs Nelson "Papee" instead of mama but doesn't think it's too weird because babies call people weird things sometimes. I have to give her a pass on this one. My own daughter called me "Dawishaway" for a long time instead of mama and we have no idea why.
Anyway, after cleaning up, she grabs a snack and the baby and heads into the woods to wait until the delivery people are gone. While they are waiting, they hear a man walking through the woods nearby. He's whistling "Gypsy Rover" and Devon gets all excited and starts saying "Dada" over and over. Becky shoves a bottle in this mouth to keep him quiet so they won't be discovered. It works but she worries about what will happen after he finishes the bottle. She stealthily wades through a stream and takes the long way back to the cabin to avoid the whistler.
The delivery people are gone, so she hands Devon off to Mrs Nelson and heads back into the woods to see if she can discover who was out there whistling. The only person she sees is Cleve, sitting by a tree whittling. Becky is convinced he's spying on her because he always turns up wherever she is. Out of the blue, he asks her what her aunt does for a living and if she has her own line of credit. It seems like a bizarre question to Becky (and to me) and she mumbles some answer about her aunt being an executive. He then asks how old Becky is. She tells him she's 17 and he says he's 18. He's graduated from high school and doesn't know what to do with his life from here. His two uncles shared custody of him throughout his childhood so he's spent all his time going back and forth from the island to Denver. Then, completely out of the blue yet again, he mentions that you can't legally sign contracts when you're 17 and he asks her why someone would sign a contract at 17 when it's not legal. She has no effin clue what he's talking about but I have to wonder if Mrs Nelson used Becky's name to sign for something. Why else would he ask if her "aunt" had her own credit or why a 17 year old would sign a contract?
Becky feels like he's suspicious of her and thinks that's ironic because she's the one who should be suspicious of him. She tells him that she has to get back home and she leaves. When she gets back, Mrs Nelson asks her if she figured out who the whistler was. Even though she's not sure it was Cleve, Becky tells Mrs Nelson that it was just a neighbor out for a walk and nothing to worry about. She doesn't mention Cleve's name because she doesn't want Mrs Nelson to know she's been talking to him.
Remembering how Devon reacted to the whistler, Becky feels like he's really missing his dad. She doesn't know how to broach the subject with the prickly Mrs Nelson, though. She decides to cloak it in a story about how much she used to miss her parents when she was little and they went away on business. Becky tells her how much it helped to look at pictures or talk to them on the phone. Mrs Nelson does not react well to this. She icily tells Becky that she doesn't believe babies know how much time has passed so she doesn't believe they are capable of missing anyone. Becky knows this isn't true at all, but she lets the subject drop. She asks if she can go back into town but Mrs Nelson says she has a meeting and she abruptly leaves the house.
Weeks pass and Becky never gets another night off. Anytime she asks, Mrs Nelson invents a meeting or appointment. If she doesn't ask, Mrs Nelson stays in for the night. Becky can tell that Mrs Nelson is just trying to ensure that Becky never leaves the house and she wonders why Mrs Nelson won't believe that Becky would never endanger Devon by talking about him in town. She feels trapped.
One morning after a month has passed without a night off, Becky informs Mrs Nelson that she needs to know when her next night off will be. She cannot continue to work 24 hours a day without a break. She wants to go to town to find souvenirs for her friends and family and she firmly tells Mrs Nelson that it will take at least three trips to accomplish. I'm proud of her for asserting herself. Mrs Nelson seems reluctant and tells Becky that she's very busy for the next week or so and she'll have to see after that.
Becky isn't happy but there's not much she can do. She's being paid very generously and not having to work very hard for the money. And she loves Devon and doesn't want to leave him when his mom is clearly bad at relating to him and his needs. She watches Mrs Nelson leave and tells Devon to say bye-bye to Mama. Devon looks around hopefully at the word "mama" and Becky points out the window at Mrs Nelson. Devon responds by saying "bye bye papee". That woman is so clearly not this kid's mom. I can't believe Becky hasn't figured it out yet.
The phone rings behind Mrs Nelson's locked bedroom door and Becky struggles with not being able to answer it. She worries that it might be her parents trying to reach her. It just dawned on me that this is before cell phones and facebook and Becky isn't allowed to use a phone. Are her parents seriously spending the entire summer with no contact with her? For all they know, Mrs Nelson was a serial killer or something and Becky's been hanging in a basement for weeks. I know Point Horror parents are shockingly neglectful, but this one really wins some kind of prize. Anyway, Becky can't answer the phone and it continues to ring for 5 minutes at a time every 30 minutes or so. I can't imagine the hell of this. I hate the sound of a phone ringing. If it rings more than three times, I get stabby. Five straight minutes would have me burning the house down to stop it.
When Mrs Nelson gets home, Becky tells her about the phone ringing all day. Mrs Nelson is so alarmed she almost faints. Becky is suspicious of her reaction and watches Mrs Nelson carefully all evening to see why she reacted so strongly to a phone ringing. Mrs Nelson is aware of the scrutiny and ends up telling Becky that she can go to town as soon as Devon is asleep. Becky is too happy at getting out of the house to care about her motives.
Becky deliberately walks past Cleve's place hoping that he'll see her and join her but he doesn't seem to be home. She remembers him saying that he's down by the boatyard a lot so she goes there to ask about him. Some rando guy tells her that no one's seen Cleve since the sheriff fell off the cliff earlier. Cleve helped load him onto the medical helicopter and hadn't been around since.
Becky shops a bit and picks up a few souvenirs. She thinks about going to the library but can't because Mrs Nelson still has her card. She decides to sit at one of the outside tables at the cafe and hope Cleve happens by. Eventually he does. He's distracted worrying about the sheriff. He can't figure out how the man fell off the cliff. It happens all the time to tourists who lean over too far hoping to see the whales, but the locals know better. The sheriff has been up there many times and knows the area too well to take a fall like that. But Cleve was the only one nearby so he feels like the entire town is staring at him funny now, wondering if he pushed the sheriff.
The sheriff was the only member of the police force on the island. This seems dangerous to me. He can't possibly work 24 hours a day. Tourist towns inevitably have crime. There's no way one man can make up the entire police force. He should at least have deputies or something.
Cleve tells Becky that he sees Mrs Nelson sitting in almost that exact same place every morning and afternoon. Becky realizes that the table has a good view of the ferry and thinks Mrs Nelson is watching people come and go. Does that mean that Mrs Nelson knows who the mysterious kidnappers are or what they look like? Shouldn't she just turn them in if she knows who they are? This makes absolutely no sense at all.
Cleve takes Becky on a tour of the town which also makes no sense to me. They already walked around the town together on Becky's first night off. Why would she need a second tour of a place that's probably only three or four blocks long? Afterward they stop for chowder and argue over the last piece of crusty bread. Cleve eventually divides it and tries to take the bigger piece but Becky nabs it for herself and tells him that crime doesn't pay. He gets all weird and suspicious acting again and Becky's had enough of it. She pulls a wad of cash out of her purse, drops it on the table to pay for her dinner and leaves the restaurant.
Cleve runs after her to apologize. He's freaking out about everyone thinking he tried to kill the sheriff. Becky reasonably points out that the sheriff will clear things up as soon as he gets back. The two of them do a little hand-holding and a little kissing as they walk back toward the cabins. Cleve wants to walk her all the way home but Becky can't risk Mrs Nelson knowing she talked to someone in town. Before she walks away, he gives her back what she dropped on the restaurant table and she takes it without looking at it. This whole part couldn't be more dumb and it's especially jarring because this book really hasn't been very dumb until now.
When she gets back to the house, Mrs Nelson is upset. Devon woke up and she was unable to get him back to sleep. He keeps calling for Becky. Becky goes right to him and is able to get him back to bed. She goes in to tell Mrs Nelson goodnight and Mrs Nelson tells her that it's not a good idea for her to leave the house anymore because it upsets Devon so much. Becky is horrified. She argues that Mrs Nelson can't possibly expect her to be cooped up in the house for an entire summer. Mrs Nelson has already thought of this and ordered a special screen for the backyard which will prevent anyone from seeing Becky and Devon if they go outside. Becky protests that it isn't enough and she needs time off but Mrs Nelson pretends not to hear her.
Defeated, Becky goes up to her room. She takes out the wad of cash to count it and see how much she had dropped on the table. Unsurprisingly, it turns out it wasn't money after all. It was a pacifier wrapped up in a napkin that Devon dropped into her purse at some point when she wasn't looking. I have to call a huge, flagrant foul on this one. A napkin covered pacifier feels NOTHING like cash. Again, this whole thing is so dumb and it's disappointing because the book has been pretty good so far. Not scary, but pretty good. Becky realizes there's no way Cleve didn't see that it was a pacifier and she knows she messed up big time.
As Becky is drifting off to sleep, it suddenly occurs to her that it's strange that Mrs Nelson spends so much time out in public. The person threatening to kidnap Devon must know what she looks like. Why would she risk being spotted? Becky is too smart to be the protagonist of a Point Horror book, y'all.
The next day the phone starts ringing again. This time it rings every 15 minutes and Becky and Devon are both getting very cranky. Becky knows she only has two choices to save their sanity. She can get into the locked room and unplug the phone, or she and Devon can leave the house. Leaving the house isn't really a good option, so she examines the lock. It looks easy enough to pick and sure enough it only takes a couple of minutes for her to get into the room. She unplugs the phone and enjoys the sweet relief. Right before Mrs Nelson is to return, she goes back in the room to plug the phone back in so she won't get caught. In the process, she knocks over a stack of envelopes. As she gathers them up, she realizes that they are bills and they are all in Becky's name.
Mrs Nelson comes home and discovers Becky in her room. Becky asks why Mrs Nelson is using her name. Mrs Nelson tries to avoid the question by accusing Becky of being where she shouldn't be. Beck apologizes for picking the lock but demands to know the truth. Mrs Nelson cracks and says she's actually hiding Devon from his father. She starts to cry and tells Becky a very typical story of a jealous and controlling man. He cut her off from everyone and had her every move monitored. He burned all her photos and her prom dress. He smashed her precious doll collection. She thought having a baby would fix things. On what fucking planet does having a baby fix an abusive relationship??? Having the baby made things worse. His previous wife had taken his child from him, so he wouldn't let Mrs Nelson anywhere near Devon. One day an opportunity presented itself and she grabbed Devon and ran.
Some former friends helped her get to the island and they're still helping her watch out for her husband. One of them is Jon Hillyer, the person who rented the cabin out to them. She's living in fear of being found so she used Becky's name on everything.
Becky thinks this explains everything. There's one pretty obvious hole to me. If Mrs Nelson was actually so deathly afraid of being found, she wouldn't be sitting out in public every day in full view of the ferry. Becky is a little mad that Mrs Nelson lied to her and worried about what might happen if Mr Nelson finds them. She's too devoted to Devon to leave, though.
While Devon naps the next day, Becky heads back outside to soak up some sun. Cleve comes by to invite her sailing and when she says she can't go, he asks her about the pacifier. She thinks pretty quickly and tells him that her baby brother must have put it in her purse before she came to the island. Cleve spots Devon's teddy bear nearby and asks if that belongs to her brother too. Without missing a beat, Becky tells him that the bear belongs to her. She's had it since she was just a little girl and she can't sleep without it. Cleve asks why it's outside and Becky says he's working on his tan. That actually made me laugh.
Becky changes the subject and asks about the sheriff. He made it through the surgery okay and is expected to make a full recovery.
When Mrs Nelson comes home later, she also talks about the sheriff. She says that she heard in town that some teenager named Cleve pushed the sheriff off the cliff. She knows Cleve lives nearby and she's a little freaked out. Becky reassures her that it's probably just a rumor and they don't have anything to worry about. Mrs Nelson IS worried though. The phone only rings when she's out of the house so she thinks that means someone is watching the house. She thinks it's her husband calling and that he must have hired a local to spy on them. Becky is uneasy because she's often thought that Cleve was spying on them. She wonders if Cleve could be working for Mr Nelson.
That evening, Becky gets Devon to bed and then goes out into the living room. Mrs Nelson is all snuggled in with a book so Becky tells her that she's going up to the point to watch for whales. She doesn't even give Mrs Nelson a chance to protest. Go, Becky. On her way up to the point, Becky argues back and forth with herself over whether Cleve is the bad guy. She doesn't think so because even though he's always asking weird questions, he never asks any questions about a baby.
She gets to the point and excitedly looks out over the water for the whales. Instead, she sees Cleve's boat. He waves her down and she carefully climbs down the cliff to the water's edge. Cleve tells her that the whales are out and he knows the best place to watch for them, so she gets into the boat despite her fear. They sail out a bit and stop to watch a pod of orcas go by. We get a big science lesson on whales here but I'll spare you the details. It was like being in school all over again.
At one point, Cleve turns toward Becky suddenly and she's startled and loses her balance. She falls overboard and Bates is quick to remind us that BECKY. CAN'T. SWIM.
There's a whole lot of Becky panicking in the water here. She imagines that a whale is swimming toward her with its mouth open and thinks she's on the verge of being Jonah-fied. Her life flashes before her eyes so we're treated to several pages of random snippets of past conversations with absolutely no context. Eventually Cleve pulls her out but not before it gets super annoying. Afterwards, Becky wonders if Cleve had anything to do with her falling into the water. She wonders if he pushed her or if he tried to run her over with the boat while she was in the water. I really think the lack of oxygen led to some brain death here.
The next day, Mrs Nelson discovers a smashed doll on the door step. She's convinced this means her husband knows where she is. She thinks he paid someone to smash the doll and leave it as a warning for her. Becky wonders if one of Mrs Nelson's friends is actually feeding Mr Nelson information. She tells Mrs Nelson that she needs to find a new place to hide. Mrs Nelson dismisses the idea and heads out to do her regular things.
Later, Becky finds a slashed doll in her room. She panics at first thinking someone is in the house but then realizes that someone could have just thrown the doll through her bedroom window. I guess there are no screens? On a cabin in the woods? Any number of creepy crawly things could come in the window with no screens. This bothers me more than the dolls.
When Mrs Nelson comes home, she reveals that she found a mutilated doll in her car as well. Becky is worried. She thinks that Mrs Nelson should call a lawyer and get a restraining order against her husband. It's a pretty sensible thing to do really, and I'm shocked. Doesn't Becky know she's a Point Horror protagonist? She should be suggesting booby-trapping the house a la Home Alone or living out in the woods or something.
Man, I spoke too soon. Mrs Nelson and Becky come up with a plan that is truly worthy of Point Horror. I'm crushed. Becky takes Devon's playpen out into the woods and sets it up in a place that's away from the path that Cleve usually uses. Mrs Nelson purchases a kind of brandy that makes Mr Nelson sleepy. She plans to offer him a drink when he shows up. At the first sign of him, Becky will take Devon into the woods. She will then wait 30 minutes for the brandy to take effect. Then she'll head back to the house, passing Mrs Nelson as she heads out to Devon's playpen. Mrs Nelson will pick Devon up and take him down to the water where a friend will be waiting with a boat. Becky will return to the house, pack her things and then leave for home on the ferry. All this will be accomplished as Mr Nelson sleeps off his brandy.
There's an infinite number of things wrong with this plan but Becky actually recognizes most of them, proving that she's in the wrong book series.
Becky frets a lot about the plan all the next day. She goes outside while Devon naps but she can't decide if she hopes that Cleve will come by or stay away. She hates to leave without saying goodbye but she worries what she'll say to him if he does appear. He doesn't. After awhile, she realizes Devon has woken up. She looks in the window and sees him holding a doll.
Becky's over it at this point. She didn't sign on for this shit and she's done. She vows to quit as soon as Mrs Nelson gets home. The phone starts to ring again and she decides there's no reason not to pick the lock again since she's leaving anyway. She unplugs the phone. Being in the room again triggers her memory of finding the bills the last time and she suddenly remembers the weird conversation she had with Cleve when he asked about Mrs Nelson's credit rating and why a 17-year-old would sign a contract. She realizes he's known all along that everything was in Becky's name. She wonders how he found out and why he cares.
She decides to take Devon outside to play behind his special screen. While they are out there, she hears the phone that she unplugged begin to ring again. Completely freaked out, Becky goes inside to unplug the phone again. This is one of those "get the fuck out" situations but Becky stays put.
Mrs Nelson comes home super late. Becky informs her that she's quitting but Mrs Nelson calmly tells her that she's not the kind of person who can leave without knowing Devon is safe. Becky sees the truth in this and knows she cannot go. Mrs Nelson tells her it's almost over anyway. She saw Mr Nelson on the ferry. He's found them.
Becky starts to pack a bag for Devon in a frenzy. Bates takes the time to tell us every. single. thing. that Becky packs. Let's just suffice it to say that she does a very good job of getting everything a baby will need for a couple of days away from home. Mrs Nelson has already packed. She seems more concerned about her clothes than anything else.
Becky is still very worried about the plan going awry. She should be. It's kind of a crap plan. She waits until Mrs Nelson sees headlights coming up the drive before she grabs Devon and the bags and runs.
As she makes her way through the trees, she hears Mr Nelson arrive. He shouts "You've gone too far, Patricia! You aren't going to get away with this! I want my son!" It occurs to me that the "Papee" that Devon keeps saying is actually "Patty". He knows her, but she's not his mom. You can't convince me that this lady is his mom. Sorry. Get over it already.
Becky heads for the playpen but she's starting to have doubts. Things just aren't adding up in her head and she isn't sure she has the whole story. Things don't feel right to her.
Some time passes between the chapters. Becky is heading back to the cabin alone. She's made a change in the plan but we don't get to hear what it was. She hopes she didn't make a mistake. I hope so too, Becky.
She reaches the door of the cabin and then there's pain exploding in her head and everything goes black.
When she comes to, she's disoriented and she smells gas. She thinks there's a dead body in the room with her but it moans and she realizes it's alive. Becky manages to get outside and she considers making a run for it but she just can't bring herself to leave the person in there to die.
She goes back inside but quickly becomes confused. She goes in and out a few times before she manages to drag the person out of the house with her. She's worried about the house exploding so she tries to make it into the woods. The house does, indeed, explode and Becky faints again.
When she wakes up this time, Cleve is with her. She asks him if the other person made it and he says yes. It was Mr Nelson and she saved his life.
It turns out Mr and Mrs Nelson have actually been divorced for years. They had no children together. Devon actually belongs to Mr Nelson and his new wife. I KNEW that wasn't her kid. Boo-yeah. Mrs Nelson kidnapped Devon and then tried to kill Mr Nelson and Becky both.
Now we find out that Becky changed the plan by taking Devon to Cleve's house. Cleve tells her that Devon has been reunited with his father and is fine.
Cleve has to go help fight the fire for reasons I don't really understand. I guess they also don't have much of a fire department. I'm not sure I'd want to live on this island. Becky wants to go looking for Mrs Nelson but Cleve tells her to stay put. Mrs Nelson is dangerous and Becky is in no shape to go look for her. It's never stopped a Point Horror protagonist before so I know he's just wasting his breath.
As soon as Cleve leaves, Becky proves she's in a Point Horror book by taking off for the point. I'm not sure how she knew Mrs Nelson would be there. It's a stretch. Becky is dizzy and her thoughts are muddled from her concussion, so we are treated to several pages of rambling thoughts. It's as awful to read as it sounds.
She indeed finds Mrs Nelson up on the point. Mrs Nelson attacks Becky and knocks her to the ground. She slaps Becky and pulls her hair while screaming that Becky took her baby away. After a few minutes of this, she goes completely calm and just sits there talking. She wonders aloud how she can kill Becky. Shoving her over the cliff won't work because it didn't work when she did it to the sheriff. She never explains WHY she pushed the sheriff. Was he on to her? Did he know something? Becky doesn't ask. She tells Mrs Nelson that she'll just get on the ferry and Mrs Nelson will never have to see her again.
For some reason I'll never understand, Becky makes the decision to call Mrs Nelson crazy. Mrs Nelson doesn't much care for that. She tells Becky that all she ever wanted was to be normal. She had to go to a special school and everyone has looked at her funny her whole life. All she wanted was to have what normal people get to have.
Becky feels sorry for her. She hears a boat honk and figures it's Mrs Nelson's ride. She tells her to go. To find a place where she's safe and happy. Apparently we're just going to forget that she kidnapped a baby and tried to kill three people. Oooooookay. Mrs Nelson leaves.
Time passes. I don't know how much. Becky and Cleve are discussing things. I guess Becky never told anyone about finding Mrs Nelson on the cliff and letting her go because the general consensus is that Mrs Nelson died trying to get away. Cleve thinks she probably drowned. Becky asks how Cleve knew Mrs Nelson was using her name. It turns out Cleve owns the cabin. One of his uncles died and he inherited it. He had rented it to that Jon Hillyer guy and was surprised to find Becky and Mrs Nelson in it. When he checked with Jon, he found out it was subletted in Becky's name. That's why he was asking so many questions. He wanted to know what was going on in his cabin.
Mr Nelson paid Becky handsomely for taking care of Devon and saving the day. He also hired her for the next summer so she'll get to take care of Devon again. She'll also be seeing Cleve again which is good because she's in luuuurve. They kiss and the book ends.
Final Thoughts: I kind of liked this one. I'm sure you could tell by the lack of snark. Becky was actually pretty smart and she acted like she wasn't in a Point Horror book most of the time. I'm not sorry I read this one. It wasn't very scary. The parts with the phone getting plugged back in and Devon ending up with a doll were pretty spooky but otherwise it was more of a mystery than a horror or thriller. Still, I liked it. I guess the scales have tipped in Bates' favor. For now.
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