One November night in Vermont in 1843, a hungry black bear stumbles into the cabin of 13-year-old Lyddie Worthen as she prepares dinner for her family. Lyddie immediately takes charge, calmly instructing her mother, Mattie, and 10-year-old brother, Charlie, to proceed slowly up the ladder to the second floor with her sisters, six-year-old Rachel, and four-year-old Agnes. Lyddie ascends last, scrambling out of the way when the bear is startled and tries to charge her. The Worthens watch as the bear ransacks their modest home. When he gets his head caught in the boiling porridge kettle, the bear breaks down the front door, tearing off into the woods with the pot on his head. All the Worthen children dissolve into a fit of laughter. Their mother is convinced that the appearance of the bear is a sign of the end of the world and announces that they will be moving to her sister Clarissa’s farm the following day.

The intensity of Mattie Worthen’s religious beliefs is shared by her sister and her brother-in-law, Judah.  Mattie has demonstrated significant emotional distress, nervousness, and detachment since the departure of her husband three years prior, when he left to seek opportunities to improve their circumstances.