Dan Priest

To sharpen writing skills and increase cultural awareness in her classroom, Laura arranges for her students to correspond with children from other areas. Albert connects immediately with his pen pal, but as it turns out, they are both going to unhealthy lengths to impress each other in their letters.

While making an out-of-town delivery, Albert and Charles meet and travel with the Cooper family. A accident occurs en route with the parents, and in the blink of an eye, their two young children are orphans. Unable to place them with any family members, and not in a position to adopt them himself, Charles is forced to hand them over to the state...until a spontaneous decision changes everything.

Determined to make it through the winter season, a pair of men earn money by selling tainted meat to the Walnut Grove community. Several townspeople later become infected with anthrax, including Laura, Albert, Adam, Alice, and Nels. The victims are confined to the blind school, and with time running out to help them, Charles and Jonathan go out to retrieve some medicine.

Returning home from a business trip, Charles and Jonathan run into an old friend, Toby Noe. He has no money and no job. Charles invites him to live with them temporarily in Walnut Grove. Trouble ensues when Toby becomes obsessed with Amanda Cooper, a spinster who has no interest in him. Laura wants to attend a dance with a classmate named Jason, but has a hard time expressing her feelings to him.

Charles and Almanzo expand their business by delivering goods to Sleepy Eye. After arguing about the quickest way to get there, they decide to make it a race, which produces interesting results.