"It's Mother!"
- Colin has found a new hobby: He likes to lecture about the Magic to anyone who will listen (and even to some, like Ben Weatherstaff, who mostly zone out).
- As Colin is weeding and working in the garden, he suddenly realizes that he is doing as good a job as Mary and Dickon.
- In fact, Colin has become completely well. He is so happy that he wants to sing—something.
- Ben Weatherstaff isn't religious, but he suggests the "Doxology" (26.23).
- (The Doxology is a short song praising God in different Christian worship services.)
- Colin has never actually been to church, since he's been too sick, so Dickon does the singing.
- And Colin decides that his Magic and the God of the Doxology might be the same thing.
- As they are finishing up their singing, a woman walks into the garden: Mrs. Sowerby, Dickon's mother.
- As soon as Mrs. Sowerby sees Colin, she tells him that he is just like his mother, and that Mr. Craven has to come home right away to see.
- She also admires Mary, who is growing into a pretty girl. (We're glad Mrs. Sowerby notices Mary—she's kind of dropped out of the story by now.)
- Mrs. Sowerby agrees that the Magic is just one name for what she calls "the Good Thing" (26.63). It doesn't matter what people call it, as long as they have faith.
- Mrs. Sowerby says they won't have to keep up this act of Colin's ill health for much longer—Mr. Craven will come home soon.
- As Colin is leaving that afternoon, he tells Mrs. Sowerby that he wishes she were his mother as well as Dickon's.
- Mrs. Sowerby is so moved that she promises Colin that his mother is in this garden with him—and, again, Mr. Craven will be home soon.