The magic begins when Laura and her family--brothers James, baby Deborah, and her parents--move to a country house in Connecticut. There is a well in the yard, and Laura is the kind of girl who believes in making wishes. Her first wish comes true, and this sets off a round of adventures for Laura, James and two neighbors, Kip and Lydia, who mix what seems to be genuine magic with good deeds: saving old Miss Isabella King's house from a mortgage foreclosure, rescuing the "long-lost heir," persuading snobbish Mrs. Witherspoon to support the new school proposal, and discovering the secret of the antique desk. And as for the magic, is it or not?