- Will sleeps for an hour before waking up with a shout. He knows that the lightning rod on Jim's roof has disappeared.
- Will internally yells at Jim for being so foolish, then stops. He hears a hot air balloon in the air – not with his ears, mind you, but by the way the hair on his body stands on end.
- Jim too has sensed the balloon. The two boys yank up their windows and smile at each other.
- The balloon vanishes over their houses. Both boys know the balloon is searching for them.
- Inside the balloon's carriage is the Dust Witch.
- Will wonders for a moment why the Dust Witch was sent after them, but then the boys realize that, although blind, the Dust Witch can "feel the bumps of the world." She is capable of sensing souls (29.29).
- One hand searches for Will, another for Jim.
- She finds them.
- The balloon lands for an instant on Jim's roof, then flies off.
- Will calls for Jim to extend the clothesline. Hand over hand, Will makes his way over to Jim's window. The two boys go up to the roof and spot a silver track symbol on Jim's roof. The Witch left the mark to easily identify Jim's house from the air.
- Will has a flash of insight and grabs the garden hose. They drench the roof in water, washing off the mark.
- Jim berates himself for pulling down the lightning rod.
- As the two boys shower the roof, Jim's mom pulls the window down. She thinks it is raining.