Alice - 1828
Alice and George later help her family with chores. They deliver dinner to the men working in the mine and Alice bangs on a pot to get their attention. Sam announces to the men that they will have the next day off and that Sarah will have a feast prepared.
Old Freddie, one of the workers, proposes holding a race on the day as well. Alice and George get excited, asking Sam if they can ride the horses, but he declines. All the workers groan in disappointment and Sarah tries to lift their spirits, to little success.
Alice and the other children believe that a pig race would be a good idea. She asks Sam for his opinion and his approval is met with applause, while Sarah promises to bake a cake for the winner.
After much debate, the children finally agree on which pigs they'll all get. Alice ends up with a white piglet named Wilhelmina, while George has a black one named Benny. As Old Freddie wonders where the third piglet is, Maryann and little Sam show up with a full-grown hog called Oink.
George feels confident that he will win after seeing Oink's size and slowness, but Alice warns him not to count his chickens before they've hatched. She gets to work training Wilhelmina by taking the piglet out for a run in the bush. Along the way, she asks a few people if they want to bet on her pig in the race. They all decline, stating they'd prefer to wager their money on George's pig Benny. Afterwards, she tries to drag Wilhelmina back home, but the piglet proves to be rather stubborn.
Meanwhile, Alice's sister Maryann asks Old Freddie for some apples to feed Oink. Alice tells her sister that fattening the pig up won't improve it's chances, though Maryann insists that she mind her own business.
Alice sits down and tells Old Freddie about her worries, but when his advice devolves into senile ramblings she loses interest. Her attention is piqued again when he suggests using something that will make Benny go slower.
Her and Old Freddie find a white piglet roughly the same size as Benny and sneak into the Owen's barn that night. As they paint the pig black, Freddie reminisces about his younger days and how he was sent to Australia for committing forgery. They briefly admire their work when they finish, before quietly taking the pig back to the barn. Alice then steals the real Benny and finds a place to hide him until after the race is over.
Alice wakes up late the next morning and notices something wrong when Wilhelmina fails to awaken. George arrives and claims that something strange has happened to his pig. He complains about the animal's acquired stickiness and decides that it needs a bath. Alice is unsuccessful in talking him out of it.
She runs to Old Freddie's place and anxiously tells him about Wilhelmina's odd state, disturbing his nap in the process. He mumbles incoherently in response and she accuses him of drinking. Alice forces him up despite his inebriation and drags him to her place.
Freddie observes that the pig is simply exhausted from having been forced to run for a whole day. He gives it a whiff of smelling salts, resulting in it becoming twice as fast. George stops by and watches in disbelief, while Freddie feigns innocence.
Alice manages to distract her mother from going to the Owen shed by claiming that the cake is burning. She gets there and places Benny inside a large box before going outside and seeing George with Freddie's beer cask. He taunts her once again by claiming that he'll win.
The race begins and Alice and George go head to head, urging their pigs along. Alice has a moment of shock when Wilhelmina suddenly flops down halfway and she accuses George of giving her pig alcohol. The spectators cheer fake Benny on as he approaches the finish line. However, the piglet stops to bathe itself in a large puddle and the black paint washes off.
George demands to know where Benny really is and Alice insists on telling him later. He doesn't accept it and calls her a cheater in front of everyone, prompting them to chant the word repeatedly. The noise rouses Oink, whom stands and runs swiftly along to the surprise of all. The large pig reaches the finish line and hungrily gobbles up the prize little Sam had in store: a ripe apple.
Sam declares that Maryann and little Sam are the winners, but when Alice accuses them of cheating too, he decides to let all four children have a share of cake. Sarah arrives with Benny, revealing that she saw right through Alice's lie and went to the Owen shed anyway.
Alice and George are sent to tidy the shed. They finish just as the festival is ending and run outside to continue their earlier game of tag.
