On
Halloween, the three girls make plans to leave the group of trick-or-treaters they will be with
to make a brief stop at Egypt. Elizabeth nervously asks what they are going to do, and April
says that they will stick close together and wait for a secret omen, or sign, showing them that
the time is right to separate from the others. Marshall, who overhears much but usually says
little, asks whether the sign will be a pigeon feather, and April replies mysteriously that they
will know it when it happens.
As soon as they join the large group, Marshall
stops in his tracks and says he wants a sign. The girls are mortified that he would speak
publicly about their secrets. He had never blabbed before. They scold him for speaking of their
game out loud in the hearing of others, but he clarifies: "Not a secret sign. ... A sign to
carry." Melanie realizes that Marshall thinks they are part of a demonstration. He has
never gone trick-or-treating before, but he is aware of peace demonstrations that were common in
California in the 1960s, the time period in which the book is set.
The confusion about the word "sign" is that the girls think
Marshall is referring to the secret omen they discussed earlier, when he really is referring to
a physical sign like the sign a demonstrator would carry.
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