Heidi

The narrative returns to Frankfurt, where the doctor, who has recently lost his only daughter, is sadly walking through town. He arrives at the Sesemann home to meet with Clara’s father about her visiting Switzerland. Due to her health, they must postpone her trip, though they know she will be devastated. The doctor thinks she may be healthy enough to visit in May, though the trip will prove difficult since she must be carried up the mountain. Seeing the doctor’s sadness, Herr Sesemann suggests that the doctor visit Heidi and deliver all of Clara’s gifts. The doctor agrees and prepares to leave the following day. As he leaves, Rottenmeier barges past him as the wind catches her shawl like the sail of a ship. However, she gladly helps Clara pack the gifts for Heidi, including a winter coat, cakes, and a shawl for Grannie. For Bridget and Peter, she packs a large sausage, and she sends Grandfather tobacco.

While in Frankfurt, Heidi learned to keep her space tidy. So each day when she awakens, she straightens and cleans the hut before going outside. Grandfather is already outside caring for the goats, and Heidi runs and plays with them in the sunshine. Peter arrives and invites her to accompany him and the goats to the pasture, but she says she must stay near the hut since she is expecting her guests any day now. Peter is disappointed that Heidi keeps turning down his offer.

Later that day, the doctor walks up the path and Heidi runs to greet him with kisses. She thanks him for sending her home to Grandfather. However, her joy quickly fades as she realizes Clara and Grandmamma are not with him. The doctor explains that Clara is too weak to travel but that she hopes to visit in the spring. Heidi sees that the doctor is sad and invites him to meet Grandfather and join them for dinner. Grandfather brings the table outside and serves the doctor dried meat and toasted cheese. He offers to serve as the doctor’s tour guide during his visit. The doctor will board at the inn in Dörfli so he can visit for a few days and enjoy the sites on the mountain. Heidi excitedly invites him to visit the goats with her the following day. Clara’s box arrives, and Heidi cannot wait to distribute the gifts. She takes Grannie the shawl and cakes, and Peter is struck speechless when he sees the sausage. Grannie is grateful for the generosity of strangers.

Peter walks with the doctor up from Dörfli but barely speaks to him or answers his questions. Heidi and Grandfather join them to walk up the mountain, and Grandfather packs extra food for a nice lunch for the doctor. When they stop to rest, Heidi is confused by the doctor’s sadness. “No one is sad here […] only in Frankfurt!” (202) She encourages him to talk to God about his grief, but the doctor says that there are some hurts that even the mountains cannot heal. She recites to him the hymn she reads to Grannie, and the doctor becomes emotional when it reminds him of his mother singing to him as a child. The doctor asks Heidi if he can accompany her up the mountain again tomorrow.

Peter is jealous that Heidi is spending all her time with the doctor and angrily shouts to everyone that it is lunchtime. Heidi and the doctor only drink milk for lunch, leaving extra food for Peter, and he feels guilty for being rude. The doctor’s visit lasts for a month, and he and Heidi walk up the mountain each day, her presence reminding him of his daughter.

Heidi is sad when the day arrives for the doctor to return to Frankfurt, and they share a tearful goodbye. Heidi offers to accompany the doctor back to Frankfurt if it would help him feel better, but he tells her she must stay with Grandfather so she does not become ill again. Heidi agrees to visit him if he needs a companion to lift his spirits. As the doctor waves goodbye, he meditates on the restorative properties of the mountains.

Winter arrives, and the snow is so deep that Peter can only exit his house through the window, and must use a sled to move up and down the mountain. Grandfather and Heidi move into a large abandoned house in Dörfli that Grandfather once lived in with his son for the winter. The home has fallen into disrepair, but Grandfather makes it cozy, and the new environment charms Heidi. She misses her daily visits to Grannie, but Grandfather says the snow is too deep for walking. She attends school daily but notices that Peter is often missing.

One morning, Peter awakens to find the frost has arrived, making the snow more easily traversable. However, the frost makes the sled move too fast, and he skids right past Dörfli into the next village and misses school again. When he stops to visit Heidi, Grandfather gives him a stern warning about truancy: “If you ever again let your sleigh carry you off when you ought to be at school, you can come to me afterward to get what you deserve” (217), but Grandfather still invites him to stay for dinner.

After dinner, Peter takes Heidi up the mountain to visit Grannie. The extreme cold has forced her to stay in bed, but she is happy Heidi is there. Heidi reads her a hymn about the comfort and joy of returning home, and Grannie says she feels better. Heidi notices that Grannie’s bed is uneven, and she wishes she could give her the bed she had in Frankfurt. Peter takes Heidi home on the sled. Later, she lies awake in bed worrying about Grannie and remembers to say her prayers. She has an idea that can help Grannie and soon she falls asleep. 

Peter visits Heidi each day after school, and she decides she will use the time to teach him to read. Since she cannot visit Grannie each day, Heidi wants Peter to read the hymns to her. Peter resists at first, but Heidi warns him that if he does not learn to read, his mother may send him to a strict school in Frankfurt, where the boys stay inside all day and learn to become gentlemen. Her descriptions frighten him, and he agrees, but the alphabet lessons prove difficult for him. Heidi uses rhyming couplets to teach Peter the letters of the alphabet while Grandfather watches from the corner where he smokes his pipe. As his frustration grows, Peter reminds himself of the Frankfurt school, and with Heidi’s encouragement, his persistence pays off with slow but marked progress. Soon, he announces to his mother and Grannie that he can read and displays his new skill by reading the hymns aloud. Bridget calls it a miracle, and Grannie is proud of her grandson.

At school, Peter confidently volunteers to read a passage and the teacher marvels at his progression. He tells her that Heidi taught him to read and that Uncle Alp has encouraged him to attend school regularly. Peter continues to read to Grannie each night, but sometimes he must skip the unfamiliar words. Grannie appreciates his effort but secretly prefers Heidi reading to her over Peter.