Paul and Cressie are on a road trip from Boston to a fortune teller named Madam Blake. They are stopped in a small beach town where locals give them a hard time, likely because they are traveling on a motorcycle. They spend time at a beach, but a policeman tells them it's private, so they must leave. The couple stops at an all-night drugstore for contraceptives, but the drug store does not sell them. They get stopped by another policeman for not wearing glasses, then find a more liberal pharmacy with what they need. In the next town, the couple is met with similar disdain from the locals. Cressie tells Paul about someone whose daughter visited Madame Blake and was told she saw a child in the girl's lap, finding out she was pregnant only a few months later. Cressie is adamant about not wanting to be pregnant. Another police officer gives the couple a hard time on their way to meet Madame Blake. When they arrive at Madam Blake's house, they get turned away and told to come back. A Polish woman approaches the couple in a park while they wait. Three young girls join Cressie in the waiting area of Madame Blake's house as Paul gets his fortune read in a different room. Madame Blake tells Paul he will be a famous writer like he hoped but tells Cressie trivial things like taking cod oil for an ear infection in November. The couple continues to Cape Cod, where they find an oceanfront rental cabin. The couple talks about the girl Paul had gotten pregnant and the child he did not want to know. He tells Cressie he would follow her anywhere if she were pregnant. Paul brings in a praying mantis to save it from the cold.