Marty's ma has ". . . a pretty face. Plain, but smooth." She takes care of the house and children. When she can get outside work to do at home, such as stuffing envelopes, she does that to help out with their bills. Ma is observant and intuitive. She seems to know just what Marty is thinking most of the time. Ma discovers that Marty is hiding Shiloh. She is perceptive and realizes that Marty might run away with Shiloh. She is adamant when she tells Marty never to run away from a problem. In spite of her better judgment (because she has never kept a secret from Dad), she agrees not to tell Dad about Shiloh until the next day. Of course, when the German shepherd attacks Shiloh, and Dad finds out that Ma has known that Marty has been hiding Shiloh, he is upset with her for not telling him.
Ma is a caring person. She quickly grows attached to Shiloh and even bakes a cake to celebrate the last day Marty has to work for Judd and Shiloh becomes their dog.
