Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock -- the miniature Borrowers -- depend for their livelihood on the "human beans" whose cottage they live in. So when they discover that their humans are moving away, the Borrowers are forced to find a new home and a new family to borrow from. With the help of the wild Borrower boy Spiller, they make a harrowing journey down the cottage drain in a soap dish and are soon living in a teakettle by a river. But the poor Borrowers barely have time enough to catch their breath before flood or famine or their old enemy Milk Eye sends them looking for a home once again.