Shortly after her mother's death, thirteen-year-old Melissa goes to live with her grandmother in a small New Hampshire town which is experiencing an odd unending winter.

Barely recovered from being kidnapped by the now-jailed hermit, Melissa and Jed find themselves still in danger for reasons that are rooted in the past history of their New Hampshire village.

When her father announces plans for a housing development in the woods considered sacred by the mysterious hermit, the village is attacked by seemingly supernatural wild dogs; and Melissa realizes that she must find and pacify the hermit, even if it means traveling to the Otherworld. Sequel to "Watersmeet."