Bud Spinner, a fear-filled reclusive garage owner, a shy inner-knower of hidden goodness in people, helps Map Girl and Geena escape Ardenville with cash and a map. Bud secretly writes car fix-it manuals, banking the money in another town. Bud, Ben, and Andy, two other fear-filled recluses in Ardenville, find each other and become fast friends. Bud repairs cars. Ben reads science fiction. Andy fishes unsuccessfully. Unknown to themselves as well as the town, they are able to detect good and evil, the hidden emotions and intentions in others. Constantly overwhelmed by their psychic, secret gifts, they stay extremely resistant to the ills of the outside world. Their solution is to hide.

Easily overwhelmed by nature and the unknown as well as people, they buy a cabin and spend weekends away from Ardenville. But Dan, a private eye hired by Mama to keep tabs on her ex, ejects them from their cabin, forcing them to flee Ardenville. Setting out on their first road trip, they are carrying a gift for Map Girl. Map Girl, Miss Emma, a world famous artist, and her father, William the Dude Makepeace, talk them into staying at a remote monastery until they get their bearings. The three men settle in and plan to spend Christmas with Map Girl, not knowing the unexpected ways of Fate will be awaiting their Magi talents and psychic skills at the desert store and in another unexpected place.