Summary

The story begins with a diary entry in which Catherine Cabot Hall introduces herself as a girl of thirteen years. The diary was given to her by her father, Charles Hall. Her mother dies four years earlier from a fever. Catherine has a younger sister named Mary Martha who looks like her mother, but doesn't have blue eyes like Catherine. We are also introduced to her best friend Cassie Shipman, who has three brothers and whose house is close, but much larger. One night, Catherine's father tells them a story of a man who walked in the woods and thought he saw a headless woman. He ran home, but the next morning he returned to see it was just a tree. Her father commends the man for showing true intelligence and not remaining fearful of the unknown. While walking home from school, Catherine...