Sam Gribley wakes to a hazy June morning in the hemlock tree hollow in which he lives. As the haze dissipates, he surveys his camp and contemplates how much he has built since his first year on the mountain: a millhouse, cellar, pond, and more. Sam once lived there alone, but now his younger sister, Alice, lives in a nearby treehouse. Sam’s other companion is Frightful, his peregrine falcon. Sam knows Frightful so well that he can read her body language and interpret her calls. He knows that “Creee, creee, creee, car-reet” (2) is her special name for him. Sam thinks back to a day when Frightful joined a male peregrine falcon in a courtship dance. Despite his fear that she might leave to mate with this falcon, Frightful instantly returned when Sam called.

Later that day, Sam senses several warning signs from Frightful and other animals that danger is near, and soon a man in a green uniform appears. He introduces himself as Leon Longbridge, a conservation officer, and announces that he has come to confiscate Frightful because peregrine falcons are endangered and can be kept only by a licensed falconer. Leon explains that since Sam has had Frightful since she was a chick, she imprinted on him and now sees humans as her kind, so she won’t be able to mate.