Daniel and his sister, Erica, didn't want to move to rural west Virginia. their new home is a rundown old farm surrounded by woods,miles from town.the local kids treat Daniel and Erica as snobby outsiders and frighten them with strange stories about there house and a witch called old auntie. Erica withdraws further into herself, holding long conversations with her doll, and their parents grow increasingly unhappy in their surroundings. At first Daniel dismisses the tales of the witch and her man-eating razorback hog,bloody bones,as superstitious nonsense,but gradually he is forced to believe that Erica is in real danger. When Erica vanishes,he knows she's been "took," and he must summon all his courage to confront old auntie and takes his sister back.