Summary

The Rockpile is a pile of rocks occupying the empty space between two houses. The two boys, John and Roy, are forbidden by their mother, to play in the rockpile. More specifically, it is Roy who is directly forbidden because the mother knows that John would probably not take the risk anyway. Therefore, each Saturday morning, the boys sit on the fire escape of their home and longingly watch other boys playing on the rockpile. Their mother, Elizabeth, usually sat in the room behind them and sewed or helped their younger sister Delilah, or took care of the baby boy Paul.

Once Saturday, while their mother was in the kitchen having tea with Sister McCandless, Roy is unable to resist the urge to play with the boys and sneaks out to the pile despite John's protest. He tells John that he...