The Return of the Borrowers

Plot

The Clock family, tiny borrowers named Arrietty, Pod, and Homily, must find a new home after learning the human residents of their cottage are leaving. Hendreary, Lupy, and Eggletina stay behind. With their friend Spiller’s help, the Clocks flee through the house drain system and settle temporarily in a kettle Spiller had been looking after. Spiller mentions a model village called Little Fordham located downstream. Spiller and Arrietty go back to the Manor, where George gives them a boat: a large cutlery holder with a pin serving as an anchor and a knife used for steering. Meanwhile, Pod’s nephews Ditchley and Ilrick trap Pod and Homily inside the kettle as a prank, jamming the lid shut with a stick before leaving. A storm hits, sweeping the kettle downstream. A rock knocks the stick loose, and Pod and Homily escape just before the kettle crashes into a stick suspended between two rocks. The next morning, Spiller and Arrietty find the kettle sunk near the bank as Ditchley and Ilrick arrive, realizing their joke went too far. Pod confronts them and frightens them away. The Clocks sail downstream overnight and nearly get caught by Mild Eye, but a police officer stops him, presumably arresting him. They reach Little Fordham and attempt to live unnoticed. George’s relative, Ms. Menzies, arrives at the Manor and tells Mrs. Driver that George wrote to his parents saying he was unhappy. She suggests George spend his summer holidays with her instead, and Mrs. Driver agrees. George leaves with Ms. Menzies for Fordham, the town Little Fordham was modeled after. Arrietty becomes friends with Ms. Menzies and meets George, but Mr. Pott, the owner of Little Fordham, spots two of them while tending to the model buildings.