Bildrid Scrumplenose is a Hedge Hidey, a six-inch person who lives in an abandon rabbit burrow among the tangled roots of an old oak tree called five acre tree . He and his family have spent their lives avoiding the "big folks," but when his daughter Pinncara disappears one night, Bildrid knows he must brave the dangers of the fields and even the farmhouse to save her. Enlisting the help of another Hedge Hidey family, a large but friendly owl named Oliver Fine Talon and a mole named Josh Shovel Paw, Bildrid and his friend Bert undertake a harrowing journey through the fields and sewers. Threatened by rats, caveins and capture, he finally faces his biggest fears-the big folks-and does what he must do to keep his daughter safe.