nCrystal Ball, a 12 year old foster child, is saving her 16 year old epileptic sister from the predatory Keith Peller, and writing a novel whose working title is Dead and Gone. She is sure that Keith Peller caused her Uncle Davids drowning the summer before and is intent on raping her sister. She plans how she will rescue her sister, also a foster, and get them to Texas where her aunt lives.