The Salem Witch Trials serve as a dramatic backdrop to this darkly evocative love story. After years of having only their friendship to depend on, twelve-year-old orphans Drucilla and Gabe are split up. Dru is taken in by the Putnam family, and even though Mrs. Putnam seems haunted by a troubled past, Dru begins to bond with the woman. Dru is happy in her new life, except that now that she is not with Gabe all the time, she begins to realize that her feelings for him extend beyond friendship. Dru is distracted from her feelings, though, by the odd things that are suddenly happening since a new reverend and his family, along with their servant, Tituba, have moved into town. Young girls begin falling ill, and townspeople, including Mrs. Putnam, start accusing others of witchcraft. Dru wants to please her stepmother, and at first echoes the charges. But when Gabe himself is accused, can Dru find a way to save him?