With no sign of her beloved mamma's return, Rachel's been doing the work of two, trying to look after baby Jem and take care of the new house that Titan's built. Soon she's doing much more than that, having undertaken to teach the other children how to read and write. But with a hard winter coming and no indoor schoolroom, Rachel knows that her classes will soon come to an end. Even worse, some of her students may not survive another winter of bitter cold and not enough food. Rachel knows she can help the other children keep their bellies full enough. But what she doesn't count on is that someone will help keep her little school going.