"This is family helping family . . . C’mon, Nell, be good to your own flesh and blood." It’s summer vacation, and twelve-year-old Nell has gone upstate to spend a month with Aunt Ursa and cousin Foley. Daddy thinks this annual visit is good for Nell—gets her out of the city and gets some of Aunt Ursa’s home cooking in her belly. Nell thinks her dad just wants some time alone with his girlfriend. But visiting Aunt Ursa and Foley also means seeing Foley’s best friend, Slade. And that puts a smile on Nell’s face, even when she tries to stay cool. Nell is enjoying the lazy days of summer, especially Foley’s antics and Slade’s flirty talk . . . until the boys surprise her with a frightening request. They want her to hide Foley’s Raven .25—a pistol her cousin got through a gun-running scheme—in her old dollhouse. Nell doesn’t know what to do. Suddenly, she doesn’t trust anyone, even herself. But when tragedy strikes, she knows she can’t handle it on her own.