How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"I'm not a fairy!"
"Well, nor am I," said Arrietty, "nor is anybody. I don't believe in them" (9.46-47)
And again, these two take a shot in the magical dark. It's as if, now that they've eliminated the whole flying theory, they've got to move on to the next supernatural possibility: fairies.
Quote #5
"My mother believes in them," she said, trying to appease him. "She thinks she saw one once. It was when she was a girl and lived with her parents behind the sand pile in the potting shed […] about the size of a glowworm with wings like a butterfly. And it had a tiny little face, she said, all alight and moving like sparks and tiny moving hands. Its face was changing all the time, she said, smiling and sort of shimmering. It seemed to be talking, she said, very quickly—but you couldn't hear a word…" (9.51,53)
Why do you think Arrietty tells the story of her mother seeing the fairy in such detail? And here's another question: was this really a fairy at all? Not to rain on anyone's parade, or anything, but maybe it was just a lightning bug.
Quote #6
"Oh," said the boy, interested. After a moment he asked: "where did it go?"
"It just went," said Arrietty. "When my mother saw it, it seemed to be caught in a cobweb. It was dark at the time. About five o'clock on a winter's evening. After tea." (9.54-55)
Well of course Homily believes in fairies. She saw one as a wee little kiddo, and kiddos often believe the impossible. She just manages to carry that belief with her into adulthood.