Although they have lived away from the old mining town of Stoneygate, Kit and his family are still considered one of the "old families" because their history is irrevocably entwined with the history of mining in the area. Although Kit's grandfather is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and cannot recall recent facts or access his short-term memory, he delights in sharing stories of his time in the mines with his grandson, and the two are very close. The family move back to Stoneygate after the death of Kit's grandmother; his grandfather takes this very badly and his disease progresses rather quickly. Many of his stories involve ghosts with whom both he and Kit are able to communicate.
Kit likes Stoneygate. He makes friends quickly, striking up an easy friendship with Allie Keenan, who is fun and the kind of friend his parents approve of. The Keenans are not considered "old Stoneygate" which is another thing that Kit's parents like about her. They feel far less positive about John Askew, who is a boy with an air of danger about him which of course makes him extremely magnetic to his peers. John is obsessed with playing a game called Death, which re-enacts the deaths of the children of Stoneygate who generations ago died down the mines. The game is dark and frightening, and a secret from those who are not invited by John to play it. He selects his friends based on whether they are "old families" or not, and he seems to consider Kit worthy of joining the game of Death.
The game is not a good influence on Kit. His personality changes and he is very snappy and mean to Allie which is not like him at all. When he bites her head off in front of their teacher, Miss Bush, it is definitely a red flag, and Miss Bush follows him after school to see if she can find out where he goes to shed some light on the alarming behavior change. She watches as the game starts and subsequently reports John to the school principal as the instigator and ringleader of it. He is expelled. John is frightened of his father, who is an alcoholic and violent with it. Instead of going home after he is expelled, John runs away and takes refuge in the mine shafts.
John is furious with Kit for alerting Miss Bush to the fact that something was going on, and is also angry with him for allowing himself to be followed. He sends Bobby Carr, his wing man, to find Kit after school and bring him to the mine shaft, intending to have it out with him. Kit is already making his way to the mine shaft at the behest of John's mother, who is very worried about him. When Kit arrives, John wastes no time in yelling at him, and his anger seems to be escalating. Kit tells him that he has written a short story with him in mind and would like to read it to him; he reads the story he has composed about an early man by the name of Lak, and many of the other characters are ghosts that they believe they have seen in the mines. Lak, in his role of John in the story, tells that the angry part of him has been taken away by one of the ghosts, and Kit tells John that the same thing is happening to him in real life, convincing John that his rage has been taken away, leaving him without it at all.
It does seem to work, and John calms down, but it also seems to have a wider effect on the people of Stoneygate as a whole; John's father stops drinking and becomes a calmer, kinder man who makes an effort to repair his fractured relationship with his son. John takes up drawing, and returns to school to take art classes. Things settle down, but Kit is still not certain that Stoneygate is the place for him.
Kit's grandfather passes away, and Kit knows that he will carry him with him in his heart forever, but it is time to move one, and define himself in a way that does not include being one of the old families of Stoneygate.
