Ted Treston lives, as a barely-tolerated relative, in a caravan on the edge of his brother's garden. Ted - who at the age of thirteen caused the accidental death of his mother in a fire - has paid frequent visits to the world of the mental asylum. He is given to bouts of rage and extreme sadness, but also has visits of comfort and admonition from his mother. In the woods, at night, he sometimes likes to wander with his two friends, Stan and Alfie. He appears to be getting better. Then, a local woman who has befriended him goes missing, and, after some false starts by the police, the evidence seems to point to Ted. But how much of the power of the woods, the visits from the spirit world, and this accumulation towards a climax, are only loonies in his head?