| Rowan | |
|---|---|
| |
Vital statistics
| |
| Position | Other Side member |
| Age | 2 |
| Status | Dead |
Physical attributes
| |
| Height | Unknown |
| Weight | Unknown |
"The day is coming […] You … you know … what I mean."
––Rowan's dying words to Harris.
Rowan (2013 – 2014) was the sister of Ralph, and one of the founding members of the Other Side.
Biography[]
Charlie and Stella met Rowan, her brother Ralph, and her sister Roberta, at the stream on the day Charlie and Stella first moved there. The next day, Charlie saw Roberta get attacked, killed, and eaten by a Dark Side bobcat. He informed Ralph and Rowan of this; both were very saddened by Roberta's death.
When Charlie formed the Other Side, Rowan was one of the first animals to join, along with Ralph and Harper, a mockingbird.
When Taylor became an Other Side member, Charlie told Rowan to inform Taylor about how the Sides worked and what was going on. Rowan didn't seem to have a problem with this, but Rowan's quiet and mysterious personality annoyed Taylor.
In mid-August of 2014, Rowan got trapped in a cage by Fordham Court. She sent a nearby bird for Charlie, who came with the entire Other Side. Everyone else on the Other Side also got trapped, and an exterminator was called to take them to Fleming Pest Control for extermination.
The truck driver put every Other Side member in a cage – except Rowan, who she didn't see because her trap was hidden behind a bush. Agatha Whitney came out of Fordham Court and let Rowan out of her cage, using her roommate Catherine's falconer gloves. Rowan ran into the forest.
Soon, Rowan found Miranda, a Neutral barn owl whose life was saved by Charlie; Rowan told her what had happened, and Miranda chased the truck down the road. She flew straight in front of it, causing the driver to swerve. The truck ended up in a roadside ditch. The truck driver was knocked out, and everyone escaped unscathed except Miranda, who was hit by the truck and died.
A week later, Rowan was spying on the Dark Side and heard that Zorro was planning a war against the Other Side. Carter, the bobcat who had killed Roberta, saw her in the bushes and chased her up a cliff. On the edge, just as Carter pounced, Rowan jumped. Carter died on impact; Rowan died minutes later, with Harris at her side. He took her body back to the camp to pass on Rowan's message: that the day had come.
Physical appearance[]
Rowan was a smallish raccoon – considerably smaller than her brother Ralph, and about the same size as her sister, Roberta. She had seven stripes on her tail, which was of average length, and a small portion of black fur from the "mask" around her eyes descended down to her upper lip.
Personality[]
Rowan was a quiet, reserved, optimist with a mysterious air around her, even though she seemed to have no secrets. She was extremely resourceful and analytic, and she once dug an entire tunnel system under the Other Side camp.
Relationships[]
Charlie[]
Rowan was one of the Other Side members that Charlie trusted the most and that he would send for important jobs. They were friendly towards each other, but they didn't interact much before Rowan's death, presumably because raccoons are active during the night and squirrels are not.
Stella[]
Stella and Rowan didn't seem to know each other very well. Rowan asked Charlie where she was the day after Stella was captured by Sylvia, and Stella looked sad when Harris took Rowan's body back to the Other Side camp, but that's about it.
Ralph[]
Rowan was very close with her brother, Ralph. She would hunt with him at night, and the two seemed to get along fairly well. Ralph expressed deep concern when Rowan got trapped at Fordham Court, and even more so when Jacqueline Fleming didn't see her cage and she was left behind. He was very sad when she died, and it was mentioned once that he saw her everywhere.
Carter[]
Carter killed Rowan's sister Roberta and, indirectly, Rowan herself.
Trivia[]
- Adrian Yunevich says that at one point in his writing of the series, Rowan was a male.