- After eleven year old Ellen Taylor accidentally drowns while swimming on a hot summer day with the Ingalls girls, her grief-stricken mother, Eloise, first blames Laura for asking Ellen to go to the pond with them and then, unable to accept the reality of her little girl's death, begins to imagine that Laura is Ellen.—shepherd1138
- Mary and Laura are going swimming and invite their friend, Ellen Taylor, to go with them. At first Ellen's mother, Eloise, says she can't go. But Laura begs and Eloise gives in. Once they are in the water, the girls spot several boys who are watching them from afar. Shrieking, the girls submerge themselves but only Mary and Laura come back up. When they can't find Ellen, they quickly dress and run for help. But it is too late. A few hours later, Ellen's body is recovered.
At the funeral, Eloise openly blames Laura for Ellen's death; saying that if Laura had not insisted, Ellen would still be alive. Charles and Caroline assure Laura that it wasn't her fault. Rev. Alden pays a call on the Taylors, but Eloise rejects him. She never wants to hear about God again. Then Eloise begins to blame her husband Cal, stating that if he had been home he wouldn't have allowed Ellen to go swimming. Eventually Cal moves out and Eloise is left alone.
Laura wants to do something kind for Eloise, so she picks some flowers and delivers them on the way to school. Mary warns her not to be late and Laura decides to take a shortcut across Mr. Busby's land. Busby is mentally challenged and the children have been warned to stay away from him.
Eloise is happy to receive the flowers but begins acting strangely. She looks at Laura and sees Ellen. Eloise asks her to go down to the cellar and fetch some apples. Then Eloise removes the ladder and closes the trap door, imprisoning Laura. Knowing that the girl will soon be missed, Eloise takes Laura's school books and leaves them in Busby's yard. He later finds them and is fascinated by a storybook because it has pictures.
When Laura doesn't appear at school, Mary goes home to alert her parents. She tells them that Laura may have taken a shortcut across Busby's property. Charles and some men go to the Taylor home, but Eloise professes not to have seen Laura. Then they go to Busby's place. Charles tries to assault him when Laura's books are discovered. There is no sign of her and Charles believes Busby has her hidden somewhere.
Meanwhile, Eloise forces Laura to wear one of Ellen's dresses. She styles Laura's hair to look like Ellen's. All the time Laura tries to persuade her that Ellen is dead but Eloise won't listen. She tells Laura to call her "Mama."
The next day, Eloise goes to Oleson's Mercantile to buy candles for Ellen's birthday cake. Cal comes to join the search party for Laura and Mrs. Oleson tells him about his wife's strange behavior. Charles realizes what must have happened. He and Cal rush to the Taylor home. Laura has managed to escape and Eloise follows her to Ellen's grave. There, she comes to her senses and realizes what a terrible thing she has done to Laura. After apologizing profusely, Eloise allows Cal to take her back to the house.
Busby receives a visit from Laura and she presents him with the storybook, saying she and her father want him to have it.
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