Chapter 18 Summary

Pierce and Theo are down at the beach together. Pierce has been swimming and now lies outstretched on the beach. Theo sits next to him, fingering some beach stones. He begins putting them on Pierce's back in a little pattern. "The climax of this activity, to which Uncle Theo looked hungrily forward, and which he provoked himself by deferring, was the moment when he should oh so gently and lingeringly place a stone upon the summit of each of Pierce's buttocks" (pg. 164).

Suddenly, Edward and Henrietta burst on the scene, asking for Mingo. The twins talk quietly together and then Edward holds out a fossil to Pierce. Theo knows that the gift is a big sacrifice to the twins, who value their stones highly. Pierce takes it and then as the twins back up, he throws it into the ocean. The twins see...