The story begins in 1906 as six-year-old Jacy is thrown out of the Cliff View Orphans Home by headmistress Mrs. Krault. Fast forward to 1989 and eighty-nine-year-old Susanna Brighton is celebrating her birthday in the Clover Hill Nursing Home. Among her cards is one that simply says, "Don't forget" and is signed Jacy. Susanna collapses with a heart attack and dies. Susanna's granddaughter Charlie begins a perilous journey to discover what it means. With the help of librarian Scoots Barker, Charlie investigates the house that was once Cliff View. They find clues, including an old suitcase in a wall and a bloody hair clip in a trunk. When they discover the house has been sold to Charlie's Uncle Darrin, Charlie confronts him and learns the whole story of her grandmother's life. Darrin pulls a gun and fires as Charlie dives out the door.