After traveling with the circus for a few weeks, James and Dicey decide they need to finish their journey to their grandmother’s farm in Crisfield. They dislike saying goodbye to the circus travelers. When Will offers to give the children a ride to Abigail’s house, Dicey must confess that Abigail doesn’t entirely know the children's plan to visit them or, more significantly, of their existence. She’s worried about Abigail’s mental health. Concerned, Will drives the children to Crisfield and makes Dicey promise to contact him if Abigail’s house isn’t safe. He leaves the children at a grocery store in Crisfield. Dicey asks the store clerk for a phone book but cannot find Abigail’s name or address. Dicey asks the increasingly impatient store clerk if she knows Abigail Tillerman. The store clerk replies that Abigail is mean and “crazy as a coot” while recounting how Abigail threw her phone through the telephone company window (297).

The grocery store clerk gives Dicey directions to Abigail’s farm, which is seven miles away. Dicey insists she travel alone to investigate; she instructs James to watch over the younger children until she returns. James protests, but Dicey pulls rank as the oldest sibling. Dicey leaves all the remaining money with James, totaling $9.