When Heidi woke up the next morning, at first she could not remember where she was. Then she heard Grandfather's deep voice coming from the room below and she climbed down the ladder. While they were having breakfast, they heard a loud whistle.
They went outside, and there stood Peter with his herd of goats.
"Do you want to go with them up the mountain?" asked Grandfather.
Nothing could have pleased Heidi more. She started joyfully up the mountain with Peter and the goats. Soon, she was running here, there, and everywhere, shouting with delight. She was enchanted by the waving fields of flowers. Whenever she caught sight of a bright patch of red or yellow blossoms, she ran off. She picked handfuls of the fresh flowers and carried them in her apron. She wanted to take them all home and stick them in the hay. She wanted to make her bedroom look just like the mountain meadows.
"Where are you now, Heidi?" Peter called out.
Heidi looked around. Some of the goats had followed her, but she couldn't see Peter. "Here," she called back.
"We still have a long way to go!" called Peter again. Then he whistled loudly and started calling the goats by name. One after the other they bounded off, and Heidi followed. Surrounded by the goats, Peter led the way to a green plateau, where the goats could nibble juicy stems while he and Heidi ate lunch.
Heidi sat down. "Is the milk for me?" she asked.
"Yes," replied Peter, "and the two large pieces of bread, and the cheese is yours too."
Grandfather had packed a lunch for Heidi and given it to Peter to carry. It was much bigger than Peter's own lunch. Heidi cut off big chunks of her bread and cheese and gave them to Peter. "Here, you can have this, I have plenty," she said.
Peter looked at Heidi with astonishment, unable to speak. Then he shyly nodded his thanks.
All of a sudden, Peter leapt to his feet and ran after a goat that was leaping in the direction of some dangerous rocks. When he brought the goat back to where they were eating, Peter lifted his stick to hit the goat.
"No, no, Peter, you must not hit her. See how frightened she is?"
"She deserves it," growled Peter.
"It will hurt her, leave her alone!"
Peter looked with surprise at the outspoken little girl. "Well, I will let her off if you will give me some more cheese tomorrow."
"You shall have some tomorrow and every day," Heidi agreed. And she made Peter promise not to hit any of the goats ever again.
After a long afternoon, the sun began to sink behind the mountain, and the rocks began to glow red with the sun's fading light.
It was a beautiful sight, and Heidi jumped to her feet. "Peter! Peter!" she cried. "Everything is on fire!"
"It is always like that," said Peter. "It will happen again tomorrow. But we must go home now, it's getting late."
Heidi had never had a better day in her life. She loved the beauty of the mountainside, and the sun setting behind the mountaintop.
As Heidi arrived at her hut, Peter called out from the path, "Good night! Come with me again tomorrow!"
Heidi quickly ran back and shook Peter's hand, promising to go with him again.