Rosemary McGuire, a deeply religious 90-year old white woman, is harboring "a man on the run"-- her grandniece, Linda. Rosemary's house has massive bare windows. Anyone can see inside, but there's no one around anyways-- just a grove, hills, and a deep lake.  Rosemary is physically incapacitated due to age, but she'd braved a trip up the stairs in order to catch a glimpse of her sleeping grandniece's golden hair-- painfully reminiscent of the locks of her own daughter, Moira, who died from a car accident. Rosemary has kicked herself for the past fifty years, for not having the bravery to tell Moira not to drive with broken brake lights.  Betty, Rosemary's sister, thinks Linda's stay is an answer to her prayers for house help in the absence of Mike, the student who'd previously lived with their neighbors. Rosemary thinks it's tactless to describe Linda's hiding from a boyfriend, a "psychopath" and "stalker" who has bruised her face and body-- as any sort of godsend.  Betty and Rosemary reminisce over the last time they harbored a "man on the run." Their father had hosted Eamon de Valera in 1916, and sworn the family to secrecy about it, lest the US Government hunt Eamon down. Linda comes downstairs for tea, looking battered. She weeps, confessing that she feels "ashamed." Remembering an old friend, who had used the same word after suffering her own domestic abuse. Rosemary reminds Linda that she did nothing wrong. Staring out the window facing the lake, she remembers her grandmother, who allegedly saw the Phantom Islands, underwater home of the spirits. After she saw those islands, she swore to everyone that there was no reason to fear death.  That evening, a man knocks on her door. It's Tommy, Linda's boyfriend. He has found them. Rosemary locks the door, but Tommy breaks through the window. Rosemary tries to call the police, but the phone is broken. Tommy commands Linda to get dressed and get in his car, saying he'd rather "see her dead than not with him." Rosemary prays. The phone is still not working. Linda gets dressed and tells Tommy she is ready to go. Tommy ponders out loud how he'll prevent Rosemary and Betty from reporting the broken window. Rosemary says she's going to go check on it. As she goes, she thinks about how much she despises her fear, and how much sorrow and weakness it has sowed in her life. Entering the dining room, she slides open a drawer containing a gun. Mike hid it for her, and taught her how to use it. Praying out loud, she takes it into the kitchen, and shoots Tommy twice. Staring at his unconscious body and bleeding head, she feels deep peace. She understand how her grandmother must have felt when she saw the Phantom Islands and knew there was nothing to fear.