There is a knock on Thomas “Tom” Oakley’s front door; it is the local Billeting Officer with children from London. Tom agrees to take the child she is accompanying, a sickly-looking boy called Willie, whose mother specified that he should be placed in a house near a church.

Willie nervously goes into Tom’s house. Tom prepares bread and bacon for Willie, but he is too nervous and overwhelmed to eat it. When Willie’s sock slides down, Tom notices colorful bruises and sores on the boy’s shins.

When Tom goes out, Willie reflects on the fact that he is a bad boy and chants to himself that he must be good. Willie explores the churchyard adjacent to Tom’s house. A couple walks by; the woman introduces herself as Mrs. Hartridge and tells Willie that he will probably be in her class. Willie is terrified of a squirrel and then even more terrified of a dog that bounds over to him; he finds a thick branch to fend it away. Tom arrives and explains that it is his dog Sammy and that Sammy is friendly.

Tom tells Willie to come inside so that they can sort some things out in the house; Willie begins sweating profusely and feels sick, assuming that Tom is about to beat him.