twelve-year-old mary jack is in the foster home of a conscientious but clueless episcopal priest, father matt, and his selfish troubled wife jill. also in their care is the silent jane, a seven-year-old girl who had been abused. the house becomes further troubled by the introduction of an adam, age 14; but when matt's injured sister comes to live with them, jill threatens to leave. in order to save his marriage, matt sends the children and his sister to live in a cabin in the mountains, supposedly with the help of a mean housekeeper who abandons them. they are forced to work together and become a family, with mary jack becoming the reluctant "adult" while still trying to reclaim her own childhood.