During Sawrey's annual summer fete, Miss Beatrix Potter receives an unexpected - and possibly long-term - visitor in the form of Baby Flora, left in a basket on her doorstep with a note, a sprig of hawthorn, and a scarab ring. All Beatrix knows about Flora's previous guardian is that she was a gray-haired woman, capable of scaling a brick wall in seconds. No one in Sawrey has recently become a parent, so Captain Miles Woodcock deduces that the child must belong to the band of gypsies camped just outside of town.

But the gypsies deny knowing anything about the child - or the mysterious ring inscribed 'To R.K.,Forever'. Further investigation reveals that the ring was pawned and reclaimed in Sawrey by a resident of Hawthorn House. The legendary manor is supposed to be vacant - and is rumored to be haunted. Now, Beatrix and her animal friends are left pondering the possible involvement of fairy-folk in these utterly puzzling happenings...