Calvin explains that he is here to escape his family; he is the third of eleven children. But upon further questioning by Charles Wallace, Calvin admits that the house itself also seemed to exert a strong and inexplicable force on him that afternoon. Satisfied by this response, Charles Wallace invites Calvin home with them for dinner.
Before heading back, however, Charles Wallace leads Meg and Calvin into the haunted house. Inside, a plump little woman in large spectacles is busily sewing with Mrs. Buncombe's stolen sheets; a black pot boils on the hearth beside her. Charles refers to this woman as Mrs. Who, and asks her if she knows Calvin. Mrs. Who, who speaks largely in foreign quotations, which she then translates into English, remarks cryptically that Calvin is probably a "good choice." She tells the three children enigmatically that the "time" draws near, but first they must go home and get plenty of food and rest. As they leave the haunted house, Meg begs Charles for an explanation of the woman's strange comments and quotations, but Charles insists that he still doesn't fully understand what is going on. Meg must content herself with this lack of explanation as she, Charles, and Calvin head to the Murry house for dinner.