In the city, Heidi has a difficult time adjusting, and meets some people who are helpful and kind, and others who do not even try to understand her situation. Heidi’s aunt lies to Heidi, reassuring her that Heidi can return home whenever she wishes to. There, her aunt has found a very rich family who is looking for a companion for their little girl, Clara, who is ill and can’t walk. Just as Heidi has settled happily into her new home, her aunt reappears on the scene and basically kidnaps Heidi to take her back to Frankfurt. Heidi also makes friends with Peter, who lives in a ramshackle house halfway down the Alm, and takes care of everyone’s goats. However, Heidi’s cheerful presence – and Alm-Uncle’s innate kindness, long-stifled – means that the two of them get along surprisingly well. Her grandfather, who is known by everyone as the Alm-Uncle, is a bitter old hermit, and everyone is a bit horrified that Heidi’s aunt is abandoning Heidi to Alm-Uncle’s tender mercies. Orphaned, she is taken by her rather self-centered aunt to live with her grandfather on the mountain (aka the Alm). For instance, Heidi is a very little girl when this story starts. There was a lot about this story that I had either misremembered or possibly may have been remembering other versions/movies/picture books/etc. However, I shouldn’t have been concerned – Heidi drew me right in and, despite the fact that there was never anything urgent about the plot, kept me turning the pages. Sometimes books you remember enjoying as a child aren’t as interesting as an adult. It had been a very, VERY long time since I had read Spyri’s classic, so I was a little apprehensive about it.