After Mercy Watson follows the delightful scent and delicious taste of the pansies her thoughtful neighbors plant to beautify their yard, animal control officer Francine Poulet is called out to handle the case, which brings unexpected results.
Mr. Watson's usual Saturday drive in his Cadillac with his favorite pig, Mercy, turns into an adventure when an unexpected passenger shows up in the back seat and Mercy finds herself behind the wheel.
Rescuing a squirrel after an accident involving a vacuum cleaner, comic-reading cynic Flora Belle Buckman is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived.
A constant worrier, Franklin Endicott earns a fresh cause for alarm when he accompanies Eugenia Lincoln to her favorite thrift shop and leaves with a mystery to solve.