Chapter 1 Summary

The novel opens with a traveler stopping at the family's house for water. He tells Mary Call that he has been up in the mountains, and this is the fairest land he has ever seen. Mary Call tells him that it is horrible and ugly in the winter, but she admits that she has never forgotten what he said.

Devola is the oldest sister, cloudy-headed but confident in Mary Call's ability to manage things. The two girls work to gather witch hazel leaves for money. Devola works reluctantly, but instead of complaining, she talks about their neighbor, Kiser Pease, and his desire to marry her. Mary Call does not like Kiser, because he is ignorant and greedy. He has a witch's keyhole in his chimney, which shows that he is superstitious and uneducated. She believes that their father, Roy Luther, is getting a...