Alice Tisdale doesn't remember her life before her family moved to Westernville in the early 1800s. Their home sprawls over acres of lush farmland. But Alice won't go past the edge of the woods, where shadows loom beneath the trees. Monsters seem to watch her from the ferns. Her parents call it nonsense, but she knows there is evil out there. When the neighbor's little boy disappears, Alice's family is blamed, even though they had nothing to do with it. Her family laughs off the curse, but one by one, lightning strikes them down. Alice must find the missing child if the Tisdales want a future in Westernville.