Sal hates the new house and she doesn't want to have anything to do with Margaret. She is sad and angry, and she misses her mother terribly. She also feels guilty. She feels it is her fault her mother left in the first place. Sal meets Phoebe Winterbottom, who lives across the street from Margaret. Phoebe is in Sal's class at school and the two girls become friends. They spend time at each other's house and both of them visit Mary Lou Finney from time to time. Mary Lou has a cousin named Ben who is living with her family. He is also in Sal's class, and Sal and Ben become more than friends — they fall in love.
Sal begins to realize that Phoebe's mother seems unhappy. She is not surprised when Phoebe goes home from school one day and finds that her mother has disappeared. Mrs. Winterbottom has left Phoebe, her sister, and Mr. Winterbottom notes and has stocked the freezer with food. Phoebe is angry and hurt because her mother has abandoned her. Phoebe acts like an "ornery donkey." Sal realizes this is the way she must have acted when her mother left her. Eventually, Phoebe's mother does return to the house with a young man who, she tells the family, is a son she had put up for adoption before she married Mr. Winterbottom. Creech leads readers to believe that Mrs. Winterbottom will be staying home and that major changes will take place in the Winterbottom household.
At the same time Mrs. Winterbottom leaves, anonymous messages are left on the Winterbottom's front porch. Phoebe is convinced a "lunatic" has left the messages. Sal and Phoebe spend time investigating the disappearance of Phoebe's mother and the mystery messages. Phoebe believes the "lunatic" is a young man who came to the door one day — the young man turns out to be her half brother, and the "lunatic" who was leaving the messages, turns out to be Mrs. Partridge, Margaret's blind mother.
