- Pod finally reveals that all those passageways and gates leading up to their house in the clock are not just to keep mice and cats out. They are to keep Arrietty in.
- Say what? Arrietty is pretty peeved to find out she's been a prisoner in her own house.
- Her 'rents spill the beans about her cousin, Eggletina, who went upstairs and was most likely eaten by a cat.
- Instead of deterring Arrietty, though, this just makes the poor girl jealous of her cousin who was able to go upstairs at least one time.
- You totally need to check out Arrietty's brave speech to her parents, where she explains that her cousin had it so much better: "Eggletina had brothers and Eggletina had half-brothers; Eggletina had a tame mouse; […] and Eggletina did get out—just once!" (6.57). Go on, we'll wait for you.
- There's just one problem.
- Did you ever intend to do something, and wind up doing exactly the opposite? Now you know how Arrietty's parents feel.
- They meant to tell her the story of her cousin as a warning, but they end up agreeing to let Arrietty go upstairs and learn how to be a Borrower with her father.
- Homily hopes that giving her daughter a bit more freedom will stop her "hankering" (that's old-timey talk for "yearning" or deep desire) for upstairs. Good luck with that, Mrs. Clock!
- Something tells us this spunky girl won't stop at an inch—she's going to want to take the whole mile…