It was a mild winter, but Nellie hated it anyway. Soon after Christmas an icy-cold rain blew in and washed away all the snow. It rained for days and days. The streets in town were muddy swamps, and it seemed as if every bit of that mud got tracked into the store and scraped all over the floor. Nellie got soaked to the bone every time she stepped outside—when she went to the pump for water, when she walked to Sunday school, when she was sent to look for letters at the post office. She felt like she spent half of the winter standing by the stove, shivering and dripping and trying to warm up, with her flat wet hair plastered to her head instead of shining and curly as it should be.

Finally the spring came, and it was time for school once again. Nellie was almost pleased. At last she could get out of her boring house and away from all her mother’s boring chores.

Also, Nellie had a plan. She had read a story in Youth Magazine about two girls her age who were best friends. She liked the sound of that—“best friend.” She could be somebody’s best friend. She was the best at many things: at being pretty, at being rich, at being popular. She liked the idea that someone might think she was the best of all her friends.

She had chosen Christy Kennedy to be her best friend. Maud was too dull, and Becky was too quiet, and Rosemary had a loud, tinny laugh. There weren’t a lot of choices in a town as small as Walnut Grove. Christy Kennedy would have to do.

Her plan seemed to go all right for the first week of school. Christy had forgotten about being mad at Nellie before Christmas. Nellie waited for her in the street sometimes so they could walk to school together. They walked home together at dinnertime. They sat on the same bench, and sometimes Nellie drew pictures on her slate to make Christy laugh. At recess they played games with the other girls. Christy said that her favorite game was ring-around-a-rosy, so Nellie decided it was her favorite, too.

Then everything changed.

Nellie did not know when she woke up that Monday morning that everything was about to go horribly wrong. She was feeling happier than usual. All Sunday she had played with her beautiful wax doll, whom she’d named Guinevere. A box of colorful candy had come in on the last train, with some new kinds that Nellie had never seen before. And the sunny spring weather was the only kind of prairie weather that Nellie could tolerate. It was no longer cold and not yet too hot. It was much easier to be pretty in this kind of weather.

Nellie decided to wear the white lawn dress that she had gotten for Christmas. Her mother brushed her hair into long curls and tied two big ribbon bows on top, blue to match the flowers of the dress. Nellie laced up her shoes, feeling pleased that her feet would not be dirty at the end of the day. Christy’s feet were always dusty because she went barefoot in the spring.

Outside, Christy and Sandy were waiting on the steps. Willie and Sandy ran on ahead as Nellie and Christy walked down the path to the schoolhouse.

“What a pretty dress, Nellie,” Christy said. Christy was wearing the same green calico dress she wore most days.

“Yes, it is,” Nellie said. “Of course it is not my prettiest dress, but I like how the blue flowers match my eyes.”

“Ma is reading us the most wonderful book,” Christy said. She could leap from subject to subject like a grasshopper. Nellie thought this was very irritating. “It’s called Little Women,” Christy said, “and it’s all about a family with four daughters, and I think if I could be any of them I would want to be Jo because she is funny, but perhaps I ought to want to be Beth because she is so good.”

“It sounds boring,” Nellie said. She didn’t like it when Christy talked about things Nellie didn’t know about. Nellie hadn’t even heard of the book, so why would she care which character Christy might be?

“It’s not at all boring!” Christy said. “They are a very interesting family.”

“Are they rich?” Nellie asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” Christy said.

“Then I wouldn’t find them interesting,” Nellie said.

“Oh, Nellie, must you be so stuck up?” Christy said.

“I would rather be stuck-up than a pauper and a nobody,” Nellie huffed. She flounced away from Christy and over to the steps of the school. Once she was in the shade, she carefully lowered her sunbonnet and smoothed her dress. Then she sat on the steps to wait for school to begin.

Christy ran over to Maud and the other girls. Soon Nellie could hear her talking about the book again. She crossed her ankles in what she hoped was a ladylike fashion. She watched the boys running back and forth in front of the schoolhouse, calling to one another. Their voices carried across the wide prairie.

Suddenly she saw something new.

Two girls were walking up the long path from town. Nellie had never seen them before.

The taller one had long blond hair, almost as pale gold as Nellie’s, tied into two tight braids. The other girl looked to be Nellie’s age, and she had thick brown hair, also in braids. They both wore sunbonnets and calico dresses that were too short for them, with their long bare legs and bare feet sticking out below. The older girl was carrying a stack of three books, and the younger held a tin dinner pail.

Nellie instantly knew she would not like them. They must live on a claim far outside town, which was why they had never come to school before. She could tell by how short their dresses were that they were poor. Furthermore, the older one was much too pretty, and the younger was not pretty enough. As they came closer, everyone stopped their games and turned to look at the newcomers.

Suddenly the brown-haired girl called out, “You all sounded just like a flock of prairie chickens!” The blond girl’s cheeks turned scarlet, but her sister looked defiant and bold.

Nellie couldn’t believe anyone would speak like that to a school yard full of children she’d never met. Had she never been taught any manners?

“Snipes, yourselves!” Sandy Kennedy shouted back. “Snipes! Snipes! Long-legged snipes!”

Willie immediately took up the cry. “Snipes!” he hollered. “Yah, yah! Bare-legged chickens!”

Christy Kennedy stomped up to Sandy and shoved him. “Shut up, Sandy!” she said. All the boys quieted down. Christy went up to the younger new girl. Nellie heard her ask her name.

“I’m Laura Ingalls,” said the girl.

Laura Ingalls, Nellie thought. She remembered Charles Ingalls, the man who had first come into the store almost a year ago. These must be the daughters he had mentioned when he came into the store with his wife.

She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like the look of this Laura Ingalls. She especially didn’t like the way Christy was smiling and chattering away at her. Almost at once the two of them were talking like they were old friends. Nellie stood up and came slowly down the steps toward them.

As she walked closer, she heard Christy say, “Beadle’s store and post office, before you get to the blacksmith shop. Miss Eva Beadle’s our teacher.” Nellie wondered why Christy hadn’t mentioned the Olesons’ store as well. Christy noticed her standing there and said, “That’s Nellie Oleson,” to Laura.

Laura gave Nellie a wide, friendly smile. Nellie didn’t know why Christy was being so nice to this stranger. These Ingalls girls were nobody special. Nellie looked Laura up and down, the way she had seen her mother do. She looked over at Laura’s sister. She wrinkled up her nose.

“Hm!” she said. “Country girls!” That should show Christy exactly what Nellie thought of her new friend.

To Nellie’s surprise, Laura didn’t look ashamed. She looked mad.

Just then Teacher rang the bell. Nellie swung around and flounced into the schoolhouse. Behind her Teacher was welcoming the Ingalls girls. As she slid onto her bench, Laura and her sister went up to the front platform with Teacher. Nellie heard Laura’s sister say that her name was Mary. Laura was nearly eight, almost as old as Nellie, and Mary was nine.

Nellie was pleased to hear that Laura could not read and did not know the whole alphabet. Nellie was not only prettier and richer than Laura Ingalls, but she must be smarter as well.

But one thing Laura clearly could do was be good. She sat quietly on her bench the rest of the morning, studying in one of the books the girls had brought. She read from the front while Mary studied the later pages. Nellie was surprised to see how well behaved they were. After the way Laura had called out on the playground, Nellie had hoped she would be one of those mischievous, naughty girls. Nellie would have liked to see someone else get in trouble.

At recess Christy pulled Laura over to the other little girls, while Mary Ingalls went to sit with Cassie Kennedy.

“Do you all live in town?” Laura asked them.

“Most of us,” Christy answered. “Becky’s family has a claim about a mile that way.” “So I have to walk here in the morning, too,” Becky said. “How far do you have to go?”

“Pa says Plum Creek is three miles from town,” Laura said.

“Three miles!” Nellie said snootily. “I am glad I don’t live in the country. I would hate to walk that far every day. Why, I would need new shoes every other week!” She tossed her curls back. “And if we lived in the country, we probably couldn’t even afford them. I am so glad my father is a storekeeper and not a poor farmer.”

“I don’t mind the walk,” Laura said. “It is much prettier out on the prairie, especially in the morning with the sun shining and the rabbits hopping about.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Christy said. “It can be so dusty and horrid in town sometimes. I’d rather live out in the fresh clean air, like you.”

Nellie scowled. Why would Christy want to be like this country girl, Laura, instead of her? She grabbed Christy’s hand.

“Let’s play ring-around-a-rosy!” she declared.

“Oh, let’s!” cried Laura, taking Christy’s other hand. “Becky, you be in the middle.”

Nellie was shocked. She always chose who went in the middle. Who did Laura Ingalls think she was? But the other girls were already joining hands around Becky. Nellie couldn’t change it without making a big fuss. It would be better to watch and wait to see what else Laura did.

Still, she was definitely right about one thing. She did not like that Laura Ingalls, not one bit.