Courtney, Judson, and Maddy live in the country with their parents. Their mother is a writer (who, Yolen confides, says to the children what she used to say when they interrupted her work), and their father is a college professor. They have pretty much only themselves for company, but they have trees and a pond to explore. It is in the mud by the pond that they see the unexpected.

Courtney and Judson are looking for a fallen star, but Maddy hopes for an alien. What they see is remarkable, almost incomprehensible: "The angel lay curled in the mud by the pond, his white gown still pristine but his glorious hair for once in tangles. His wings looked like leafless fronds. There was a smudge of mud along one cheekbone. He breathed heavily through his aquiline nose."

After the children escort the angel into their home, most of...