Summary

Around March, it starts raining quite hard. It is even difficult to enjoy “the slight lifting of temperatures” because the rain just will not stop (243). The town starts slowly flooding, and Margery decides it is too dangerous to ride. Fred leaves the horses outside in the pasture, and says they are safer out there than inside the barn. Suddenly, the mailman rides up on his horse, and tells the librarians that he needs help warning people that the river is flooding. Izzy is at home with her mother, bored and wishing she could help. When her mother goes to call her father, Izzy slips out, leaving her leg brace behind and taking her riding boots.

Margery and Beth are riding down Main Street and telling the residents to evacuate when a woman named Mrs. Cornish asks for their help saving her mule. Margery...