Fourteen-year-old Carey and six-year-old Jenessa have lived in the woods with their mother for as long as they can remember. Now abandoned, they must fend for themselvesuntil they're found by Carey's father and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of comfort. Carey desperately wants to believe in this new reality but is held back by loyalty to her mentally ill mother, who gave Carey her violin and taught her to play the music that helps her survive. And then there's the other piece of Carey's past that haunts her, the story of what happened to her and Jenessa that night in the woodsthe reason Jenessa hasn't spoken in over a year.