So I just finished rereading Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, and while it was a lovely little book, I’m left with one nagging curiosity… Is old Tuck psychic or sensitive in some way?

I marked the instances in my copy of the book, and I’ll list them quickly now. (I’m using the paperback published in 2007 for page numbers.) Fair warning, this post does contain spoilers!

On page 10, Mae states her intention to ride into Treegap and meet her sons on their way home. Tuck tells her that she “better not do that” and she pooh-poohs his concerns, saying that no one will notice or remember her. As you know if you read the books, she isn’t nearly as inconspicuous as she thinks she will be, and her visit could be said to be one of the main factors that leads to all the trouble. (I say one, because obviously Jesse’s carelessness is another.)

Page 58, the Tucks have Winnie at their place and old Tuck announces that he has a feeling they don’t have as much time to explain things to Winnie as they think and he’d better get to it right away. Everyone scoffs at this statement and writes it off immediately, but as the reader knows, the man in the yellow suit has been sneaking around ready to cause trouble.

Lastly, page 67, after the horse is stolen Tuck wonders if it wasn’t something more than a random horse thief, and perhaps someone set out to steal their horse in particular for some nefarious reason. Again he is shut down quickly, but the reader learns in the very next chapter that the man in the yellow suit has taken the horse and ridden straight to Winnie Foster’s home to speak to her parents!

I made a little note in my book that old Tuck seemed to have all his stats in wisdom, but I can’t help but wonder if he has a little psychic sensitivity as well…