Chester Wolcott

Chester Wolcott is a character from *Down Among the Sticks and Bones*.

## Appearance

Not much is known about Chester's physical appearance, except that he is very tall. He may also be blonde like the twins.

## Personality

Chester enjoys quiet while he's working, and hates deviation from routine.

Jack describes Chester and Serena as overbearing, saying that they always wanted to put things in boxes, and were perfectionists.

## History

### Every Heart a Doorway

Chester and his wife Serena are both briefly mentioned when Jack introduces herself and her sister to Nancy, saying that her parents shouldn't have been allowed to name their own children.

He is mentioned again when Jack is explaining her backstory, informing Nancy that her parents had expected fraternal twins and hated them being identical twins. They had decided that Jill was the "smart one" and Jack was the "pretty one", and did everything in their power to drive their interests in their directions, and the children had been trapped in those roles until they had found their way to The Moors. When they returned five years later, they'd gone downstairs to find their parents having dinner with their four-year-old son, who'd been told that the twins were dead, as Chester and Serena didn't want the mess of admitting they were still missing. Within a month of their coming home, the parents sent their daughters to Eleanor's Home, as they didn't want their stories of different worlds affecting their son.

### Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Chester and Serena are already married by the beginning of the book, and most people who knew them did not expect them to have children, as they both liked routine and order. However, Chester became jealous of the men at his law firm who brought their sons to work, and were congratulated for it, and wanted to be seen as a family man. He and Serena decide to have children, and when she becomes pregnant, Chester expects a boy. They go to Doctor Tozer, who recommends that they wait twelve weeks before announcing their pregnancy, in case something goes wrong, which upsets Chester- the idea that his wife would be bad at being pregnant! Neither parent listens to the advice, and Chester finds a lot of his partners dropped by at work to offer advice about parenting.

At their first ultrasound, the Doctor announces that they're expecting a girl, but the girl has a twin, whose gender couldn't be determined. Chester and Serena both hope that it's a boy, and don't even consider the alternative. Serena finally goes into labor, and gives birth to two girls, which disappoints Chester. Serena names one Jacqueline after her mother, and Chester names the other Jillian after his head partner's wife. A Nurse makes a quip about them being named Jack and Jill, and Chester seems offended at the idea of his children having a nickname.

When the children refuse to stop crying, Chester calls his mother Louise to take care of them. He tells the people at his firm that she was a hired nanny, to give Serena an extra pair of hands to take care of twins, never once considering that he could have helped her. The two of them are horrified when Louise pads their sharp-edged furniture, but let the matter rest once she asks how many eyes they'd like their children to have. He and his wife notice how Jacqueline is the quieter one and Jillian is the braver one, so Serena lets Jacqueline be her perfect, feminine daughter while Chester gets Jillian to be his tomboyish, more athletic daughter. On their fifth birthday, Chester tells his friends that they are looking to sign Jillian up for a soccer league. He is also warned that if they keep Louise much longer, they will have to take care of her, too, so Chester and Serena make her leave.

The two parents are overbearing while raising their children, forcing them to stay in their boxes of "smart one" and "pretty one." At one point, the parents tried to switch the girls' names, as Jillian had the more feminine name but was perceived as more masculine, and vice versa, but Chester decided it was too much trouble. During the Summer, he and Serena would hire somebody to watch the girls, as they were too busy to watch them themselves. The girls' resentment of their places in life opens up a door to the Moors. When Jill finds out she may not go back, she gets upset, saying that Chester will be angry if she misses soccer practice.

After the twins disappear, Chester and Serena have a son, who is told that Jack and Jill are dead. On the fifth anniversary of the girls' disappearance, the parents are dining with their son until Serena looks up and sees two teenagers covered in blood standing before them. She jumps up, and Chester turns to yell at the intruders, only to recognize them as his long-lost daughters.

## Trivia

* "Chester" is an English name meaning "camp, fortress."

## References

1. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 66: He was a tall man, taller than their father, who had always been the tallest point in their world.
2. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 11: Chester enjoyed silence and solitude when he was working in his home office, and viewed the slightest deviation from routine as an enormous, unforgivable disruption.
3. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 79: "Our parents were... let's go with 'overbearing.' The sort who always wanted to put things in boxes. I think they hated us being identical twins more than we did."