What is the conflict that is immediately introduced in the novel

Flames Across the Water, nine Klu Klux Klan members burn a cross in the middle of an October night in 1932. Across Kilkenny Pond, Stella Mills and her younger brother Jojo hide in bushes and watch the ritual. Stella understands the immediate danger, but Jojo is curious and confused, forcing Stella to explain the Klan to him. Stella hears some nearby horses and notices that one of them wears a harness that “sparkles in the dark” (3). Scared, Stella grabs Jojo and they run home.