Nancy, Bess, and George are excited about their school trip to the Wildlife Refuge, but when they arrive the animal Nancy most wants to see, a sixty-year-old tortoise, is on the loose.

Young readers may touch various surfaces on turtles that are not the one someone is looking for, until at last the right one appears.

"Hertle and Bertle were always a pair, though one was a turtle and one was a hare. They were utterly buddies, and best friends forever, and whenever you looked, you would find them together... until quite unexpectedly... the end came. When Hertle disappears for good, Bertle can only see a Hertle-shaped hole where his friend should be. He pleads with it, get angry with it, but the hole still won't bring his Hertle back. It seems like hope is lost......