Gram agrees to take the children, and arrangements are made for them to fly from Vancouver to Toronto that same night. Thus begins a new life for Willow and Twig, one so different from anything they've ever known, that it is almost frightening. Suddenly they are clean, fed, well dressed, and living in a big house in the country with three grown-ups, four dogs, and a cat. Aunt Con doesn't like Willow and Twig, but Gram and Uncle Hum do, and Willow quickly realizes that Aunt Con is in more danger of being evicted than she and Twig are. Willow becomes friends with the girl next door, and she goes to school for the first time in her life.
Twig receives hearing aids and is registered in a school for the deaf.
Life is finally becoming good, except for the personal demons with which Willow must contend. She worries that Twig's unpredictable and uncontrollable wildness will bring their new world crashing down. She is hurt that her grandmother didn't protect her when she was Twig's age, and she is resentful that Gram makes decisions about Twig's welfare without consulting her. Having been the adult for so long, it is difficult for Willow to become a child again. Willow and Twig is a touching story of two children who have had to endure problems no children should have to experience.