Twelve-year-old Janey and her younger brother, Jim, spend summers at a lake with their parents. Ignored for long stretches and then called upon suddenly to mix drinks or receive drunken kisses, the children huddle together in tender, compulsive closeness. Nourished only by their devotion to one another, the two fill their neglected hours exploring the lush, dangerous landscape and protecting each other from the unpredictable moods of the dark adult world that surrounds them.