Thirteen-year-old Sal, traveling with her grandparents from Ohio to Idaho in search of her missing mother, entertains them with the story of her friend Phoebe whose mother also left, unwittingly revealing the truth about her own relationship with her mom.
Unable to return to their normal lives despite the end of the Clue hunt, new Madrigal leaders Amy and Dan anxiously prepare for a retaliatory strike by the Vespers, who kidnap a number of Cahill family members and demand that Amy and Dan steal a famous painting.
After an October blizzard, Laura's family moves from the claim shanty into town for the winter, a winter that an Indian has predicted will be seven months of bad weather.