In a small Virginia town, following World War II, a young girl learns some hard life lessons and rules to live by from her mother and the boarders taken in at Hawk's Nest. Mother had not moved since all the commotion began. She still held the plate of scrambled eggs she had brought in from the kitchen. She slowly lowered the plate to set it on the table. "How?" Mother asked. "How could Claire know that?" Ophelia got Mother to sit down. "Because she has 'the gift,'" Ophelia stated. "What gift?" "Claire sees things. Things the rest of us can't envision. She's tuned into another level, gets information from some higher source.