The Cousins

The Story children confront their Uncle Archer, who claims that he is “nowhere near drunk enough for this conversation” (212), but with the encouragement of his old friend and bandmate Rob Valentine, he finally confesses that he was the one who invited the children to the island. Archer explains that he left the island years ago when his mother disowned him and his siblings, but when he started dating Edward and found out where he worked, Archer decided to return to Gull Cove Island under the guise of “Chaz Jones.” He hoped to see his mother again, but she is rarely on the island and is highly elusive. Instead, he decided to focus his energy on making sure his nieces and nephew got a chance to meet his mother and have a relationship with her. Archer explains that he doesn’t care about the money or being put back in his mother’s will, and the cousins are amazed at the thought of “a Story who doesn’t care about his lost fortune” (221). Archer says that last week he ran into Dr. Baxter, who recognized him, and Archer worries that his cover was blown. He recently received a letter from Dr. Baxter asking if they could meet because “there are things [Dr.