Maia is lonely and misses Finn and is tired of being cooped up reading inside the Carter house. Colonel De Silva brings the twins their cash reward for helping to find the Taverner boy, and the twins split it between them. Mr. and Mrs. Carter, whose financial situation is increasingly dire, begin to act in a more eccentric manner. Mr. Carter spends more money on his glass eye collection, and Mrs. Carter creates a larder of bug poisons and buys expensive cockroach repellent. They beg the twins to share their reward, but the twins refuse, becoming obsessed with hoarding it.

Worried about the stability of their situation, Miss Minton writes to Mr. Murray to ask for permission to take over care of Maia and leave the Carters. Unaware of her plans, Maia suspects that Miss Minton is up to something and catches her packing books into her trunk. Meanwhile, on his river boat in the jungle, Finn misses Maia, wishing that she were there to help him with the boat and to share the adventure. He is anxious about Maia’s well-being with the Carters and contemplates returning to check in on her.