Meri's parents cannot take her on their trip to England because she suddenly gets sick at the last minute. She's devastated. But, going for a walk the next morning, at the Practice Field she meets the Tackling Dummy, who---by a startling coincidence---also needs to go to England.
But Meri cannot go with him. She's staying with her Aunt Am, and she knows it wouldn't be right to simply leave on a trip to England with a Tackling Dummy! Her aunt would worry too much.
He needs to go ahead, though. Meri decides to accompany him just a little of the way. They climb over the fence at the far end of the Practice Field and begin to walk. She doesn't want to say goodbye to her new friend!
On the grass near a woods they see a strange and attractive ticket---or is it a leaf? Curious, they both reach for it at the same time. They have no idea it's from The Tree of Ticket Leaves!
When they turn around, Meri almost jumps out of her skin and the Tackling Dummy almost jumps out of his canvas! They're in The Autumnforest. And standing right behind them is a huge, colorful, and whimsical Buffalo Unicorn. His name is Jethro, and he speaks first.