Two eagles awake one winter morning to the sound of an approaching helicopter. While mama eagle flees, papa defends their eggs but is captured by the insectile monster, leaving mama to raise three eaglets by herself.Mary feels a similar loss and stress, but her mate succumbed to no epic battle; he simply left. Her daughter, Lissy, perhaps in response to her father's abandonment, is brimming with teenage surliness, so when Mary's father, Ed, dislocates a hip, the idea of sending Lissy to assist him seems to "kill two birds" until she discovers he's already taken on a helper-a runaway boy who's shown up with a wounded owl. Reluctantly, she leaves Lissy with him anyway.Ed's dog, Shep, strongly approves of Mary's decision, but Lissy herself is not so sure.This is not a whimsical tale, but a fable of violence and loss in a beautifully unfathomable world where weeping nights may yet break with dawning joy.