One Sunday, Nath cannot get out of a date with Tibby, so Meg goes off on her own to look for the red house. She finds it located in a small gully a few miles from Pete's farm along an unused dirt road. Teller fires at her to scare her away. Running away, Meg falls and breaks her leg. That evening, when Meg does not return, Nath ventures into the woods to find her and brings her back to the farm. Pete is furious that both young people defied his warning to stay out of the woods and he outright fires Nath, banishing him from the farm and from seeing Meg again.