With no sign of her mother returning, Rachel's been trying to look after baby Jem and take care of the new house that Titan's built. She undertakes teaching the other children to read and write, but, with a hard winter coming and no indoor schoolroom, she knows the lessons will soon end, and even worse, that some of the students may find it hard to survive the cold and shortage of food.

"The fourth and final book about Rachel"--Afterword.