This episode contains only half the usual crew. Ned and Irene are helping Clu move to UC Santa Cruz. Carey and the Phillips’ are heading for a little R&R in Rockdale, Iowa. While Jack is on the phone chatting with Clu about the number of girls in his new dorm Molly is trying to simultaneously coach Carey on some guitar fingering and drive the bus. She is not entirely successful and the bus comes to a screeching halt as she fears that she’s hit something. The boys check out the dead rabbit and determine that some animal probably killed it before Molly flattened it. Fi insists on getting a look too… and decides that she’d really rather not see. As Molly tries to usher the kids back onto the bus Carey hovers a moment longer over the remains. He pockets a red flake of something before heading back inside, too.
They arrive without further mishap at the Pretty Meadows Bed & Breakfast where the owners, Karl and Judy Whitaker greet them. The next morning Fiona is startled to see a little girl standing by her bed when she awakens. The Whitaker’s ten-year-old daughter Laura takes an immediate shine to Fi. When Karl brings an animal trap into the kitchen during breakfast Laura appears to grow rather disturbed. It seems that they’ve been having some trouble with a wolf lately. Karl offers to take the boys into town if they’ll agree to help load some supplies when they get there. Fi and Laura quickly volunteer to come too. Laura has firmly latched onto Fiona and rattles on about things like Fi’s young cousins, Maggie and Miranda, tend to do. One of the things she confides in Fi is that she loves press-on nails but that she’s lost one of her favorite red ones.
It’s clear that other members of the small community have had livestock losses due to wolves, too. Jack seems impressed as he watches Karl offer support and encouragement to one of his neighbors. He tells Laura that she has a really great dad. One can’t help wondering if Jack is missing his own father just a bit. As he and Carey finish loading the truck Fiona spots a large animal track in the dirt. She asks her big brother, the former Boy Scout, if he can identify it. He’s stumped. Too big for a wolf, too small for a bear. He shrugs it off but Fi is beginning to get "The Look".
Meanwhile, back on the home front, the father theme continues. Molly is working on a new song, "The Rock", for her dad. Judy comes in for a little "girl talk" and admits that Laura is a foundling. They don’t know where she’s from, but they consider her a gift. It’s obvious that they love Laura dearly. Judy rearranges pieces of furniture in a dollhouse several times during the episode. It seems to be some sort of nervous habit.
That evening while Fi is dozing with an "Eighteen" magazine tucked under her cheek Carey comes in to return her borrowed laptop. He slides out the magazine and flips through it before setting it aside. Fi wakes up and Carey presents her with the red flake that he discovered earlier. He thinks that she’ll find it interesting. Carey seems oblivious to its actual purpose, but Fi immediately realizes what it is. It fits perfectly over one of her fingernails. Laura enters Fi’s room as Carey is leaving. Laura admits that she’s afraid of the wolf and asks to stay with Fi for a while. When Molly comes into the room later to close Fiona’s open window Fi is alone in her bed.
The next morning while the kids are helping with farm chores Fi finds Laura napping on a hay bale. Karl tells Fiona that they’ve lost another chicken during the night. He goes on to tell her about how he found Laura in the woods as a baby and how no one ever came forward to claim her. This sends Fi into research mode and she decides that Laura must be a werewolf. Jack mocks her, as usual, but Carey seems open to extreme possibilities.
To test her theory Fiona checks on Laura in the middle of the night. She isn’t surprised to discover that the little girl isn’t in bed. Jack is less than thrilled that Fi wakes him at four a.m. with her discovery, but he and Carey join her in an impromptu "search and rescue" operation. Carey wants to know what they’re supposed to do if they actually find a werewolf. Jack points out in annoyance that they won’t find a werewolf because werewolves don’t exist. What they do find is a small, nest-like lean-to and Laura’s discarded nightgown. Jack demands that they head back for the adults. A growl in the darkness doesn’t leave any room for debate. The three kids run back to the house… only to discover it locked and that they didn’t bring the key. They do, however, have a key to the bus and after several moments of noisy scrambling they’re safe inside. With all the racket they made it was a wonder that no adults were awakened, but they all seemed to be rather sound sleepers.
Inside the bus Carey is again wondering what to do with a werewolf and wishes for a nice sharp stake. Jack again points out that werewolves don’t exist… but that Carey would need a silver bullet, not a stake, to kill one. Seems that the skeptic knows his mythology. Fi firmly objects to the whole discussion as she believes that Laura is the wolf in question. Carey soon comes up with a plan to trap the creature inside the bus. He seems to realize belatedly that his plan contains more than a little personal risk on his part. He sends Jack and Fi out the back window while he lures the wolf inside. Fi closes the front door and Carey sprints for the window. When Carey and Jack head to the house to try waking the adults again Fi remains by the bus. As she watches the sunrise she hears Laura calling to her from inside the bus. Fi hesitantly opens the door and finds Laura huddled on one of the benches. Fi wraps her in a blanket as the little girl confesses that she’s been "changing" lately and is afraid that her parents won’t understand. The boys come back with the grown-ups and are surprised that there’s no wolf, only Laura. Fi says simply that the wolf is gone. Molly gets maternal and admonishes Fi to wake her the next time she gets the urge to do any midnight rambling.
Later in the day Molly is working on "The Rock" again. Fi interrupts to ask a hypothetical question about "a friend" and whether she is obligated to tell her friend’s parents about a potentially life-threatening problem that her friend may have. Molly’s advice is that she should. Fi looks thoughtful and wanders off after reassuring her mom that Grandpa will like the song. It seems likely that Fi does tell the Whitakers that their adopted daughter may be a werewolf. There is no actual conference scene with Fi, but Karl and Judy appear to be doing some soul-searching while Laura watches nervously from an open window. As the Phillips and Carey are loading the bus the Whitakers’ neighbors begin filing down the road toward their house. Karl informs them from his front porch steps that his daughter has a "problem" and that his family would appreciate the community’s support. It doesn’t seem very likely that he’s going to tell them that little Laura gets furry and kills chickens, and the neighbors don’t seem to press him for any further explanation. Either these are very understanding or very uncurious people. Molly wonders what’s going on and Fi tells her that Laura’s family "just got a little bigger".
Quotes:
Fi: If the guys can look, I can look... I don't wanna look.
Carey: Why'd I have to be the oldest?