- Dicey is a little shocked, but she asks her grandmother to prove it. Who is she?
- Abigail says she's Liza's oldest daughter, but she can't remember her name. Apparently, Cousin Eunice wrote to her to let her know the kids were trying to make it to her.
- Abigail also tells Dicey she's not crazy… But Dicey already knows this lady is crazy like a fox. If their grandma says they can't stay, though, Dicey is totally fine to go.
- Abigail wants to know where the kids will go, and Dicey says she's not sure, but if they can't stay here, then she'll just have to figure something out.
- Abigail changes her tune a bit—now she says they can't stay at the house permanently, but they can sleep there the one night.
- Dicey isn't sure, though. Should she even introduce her siblings to this wacky woman? But on the other hand, what choice does she have? Their grandma is right: They have nowhere to go right now.
- Abigail doesn't have a car, so she and Dicey take a motorboat toward town to pick up the other three kids. When they get there, Dicey can only find Sammy, though—it seems James decided to follow Dicey on his own and took Maybeth with him.
- Back at Abigail's house, Dicey finds James and Maybeth at the end of the driveway. She explains to all of them that they'll just be staying the night, so don't get used to the crazy lady and the rundown house.
- Abigail tells the boys to fetch crabs for dinner from the traps by the river and they run off.
- Inside of the house, there are five bedrooms. One is Abigail's, and the children each claim one of the others and share a bathroom. Dicey and Maybeth get the rooms ready and try to guess which one was their Momma's.
- Then the girls help their grandmother get dinner ready. Maybeth picks beans, and Dicey heads to the barn to grab some potatoes, and she finds an old sailboat inside. Dicey loves sailing.
- She asks her grandmother about the boat, but she doesn't want to say much; Dicey is annoyed. She feels that this house and these stories belong to the kids, and it's not right that their grandma should try to keep their family history and legacy from them. If only Dicey can think of some plan to get them to stay here. Hmm…
- During dinner, Abigail asks the kids all kinds of questions. Where is their mother? What happened to their father? Is Maybeth "retarded?" (She does not ask, however, if people would stop using the r-word in this book, though we wish someone would raise this question.)
- After dinner, the kids go swimming in the bay, then they head back to the house to cozy into their beds.
- The Tillermans all talk. Would they want to stay here forever? Maybe, maybe not. James doesn't think their grandma's crazy, Sammy thinks the place is fun, and Dicey is busy hatching a plan. What are they going to do tomorrow?