Peter Haas

Reverend Alden's birthday is coming up, and the Sunday School children have raised enough money to purchase a gift. School treasurer Mary is elected to order the gift and present it to the Reverend, but with only $1.67 to spend, it's obvious that they can't afford anything fancy...until Laura coaxes Mary into taking a dangerous gamble to double the money.

Isaiah and Grace Edwards are both delighted with their new family, but trouble soon begins between Isaiah and his oldest adopted son John. Isaiah does not understand the boy's interest in books and poetry, and he would much prefer a son with whom he could farm and hunt. That clearly is not the kind of life John enjoys, but Isaiah keeps pushing it.

Feeling lost and abandoned, Mary battles anger and self-pity at a school for the blind. But soon, she finds a source of hope in her new teacher, Adam Kendall, and as they work together they find they have much in common. Meanwhile, back in Walnut Grove, many are forced to consider the real possibility of having to start a new life elsewhere as the town's economy erodes and work becomes scarce.