Hope Spencer, still recovering from her own ordeal (Abandon Hope), is desperate when her best friends, Josh Gillis and Danny Flannery, are abducted from their beds in the middle of the night.
While Josh and Danny struggle to escape, Hope is in despair, unable to assist them the way they assisted her. She seeks the aid of her elfin friends from the Arboreal Realm where she meets Queen Agahpey Hesed, the mother of her three new, odd friends, Gavin, Gronek, and Smakal.
Meanwhile, another seemingly unrelated drama is unfolding at the Notch Inn Motel and the Robbins Stone Limestone Mine, both owned by Mabel Robbins.
Rick Anders, the new interim sheriff, is tracking down leads and juggling emergencies. Danny Flannery looks manhood square in the eyes. Josh Gillis is faced with a desperate choice. And Hope Spencer finally comes face to face with her disturbed father. Through it all, the evil specter laughs and slurps up the flavors of human pain in the tiny town of Cutters Notch, Indiana.