The wishing well is all used up, its magic drained, its enchantment gone dry.

     Or has it?

     In a reckless moment, Gordy threatens the old well, telling it to get going with its magic or else!and that seems to do the trick. Suddenly Laura, Lydia, James, and Kip--who feared their autumn would unfold without magic--are plunged into just the sort of outlandish adventures they'd longed for.

     But is itreally the well's magic that transforms troublemaker Dicky LeBaron from ne'er-do-well to hero? Or keeps Appledore's orchard--and love life--in bloom? Or sends James on a doubly daring rescue of a damsel in distress?

     What does it matter? Sometimes the best kind of magic is the kind that isn't so magical at all. . . .