Elizabeth Classen’s curiosity is aroused when she notices an unfamiliar teenage girl hiding pieces of fruit in her pockets from the refreshment table during the church's social hour. No one seems to know the girl, few other people observed her, and when Elizabeth tries to speak with her, the girl bolts. Who is the fruit thief? Why is she sneaking food? And how can Elizabeth help her? At home, the sisters find evidence that a thief of a different sort has been sneaking into their ramshackle henhouse. This discovery prompts them to undertake a project that quickly becomes more challenging than they'd anticipated. Meanwhile, middle sister Martha is tapped at the last minute to oversee a library book sale when the chair-person takes ill; and youngest sister, Mary, tries to do a good deed as a foster parent to a rescue dog, which brings a whole doggie bag full of troublesome tricks along with it..