The Puppets of Spelhorst

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of death.

At last, all five puppets have been reunited. As they each recount their respective adventures, they realize that they are not the same as they were before this day began. They have each experienced something that has caused a shift in their perspectives. They wait together as the sky grows dark outside.

Soon, Emma and Martha’s uncle, the man who purchased the puppets from the rag-and-bone man, enters the room. He looks at the mantel and says, “My puppet friends […] you will be glad to know that Emma has put me in charge of lighting” (103). With that, he lights the gas lights one by one and starts to help Emma arrange the seats so that the room is transformed into a theater.

Martha and Jane take their places kneeling behind the table being used for a stage: Martha is holding the wolf and the boy, Jane is holding the girl and the owl, and Emma stands in front with the king puppet in hand.