Summary

The prologue opens on Caitlin Courtland, who is 18 years old. It is summer, and she is on vacation with her parents and her 16-year-old brother Sean in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Caitlin is an accomplished track athlete and will be attending college in the fall. One morning, Caitlin and Sean leave the cabin where the family is staying and go on a bike ride. Caitlin and Sean eventually encounter an old gravesite that features a statue of the Virgin Mary. They notice that two of the statues fingers are missing, and they speak of their father, who is missing part of two fingers. Sean wonders aloud if their father is sexually unfaithful to their mother, but he can supply no concrete reasons for thinking this. Meanwhile, their parents—Grant and Angela—are in the cabin, talking amicably. Angela’s twin sister Faith...