Leading up to Thanksgiving, Jesse Kimberley receives a telegram from Carlotta, her husband’s half-sister, saying she will be coming to visit. Her young children—Jimmy, Mark, and Kate—are excited that their aunt will be coming, even though they do not know her well. Carlotta’s late husband was a Frenchman, and she used to live in Paris with him and travel often. Although the children are excited, Jesse and their housemaid are weary of Carlotta’s visit due to her strange personality. Jesse recalls how Carlotta seemed distant even when they were kids and was alienated by all the other girls. Jesse admits to her husband that she does not want Carlotta to visit and is afraid to have her around the children, but he brushes off her ungrounded fears. As the winter weather settles over their small Michigan town, the children are excited to play hockey on the frozen river, and Jesse warns them to wait for the ice to thicken enough. The children compete in a school contest to win a pair of new skates, and Jimmy wins by selling the most tickets. When Carlotta arrives, Jesse acts amicably but feels unsettled watching her laugh with the children and is afraid that she is changing them somehow. On Thanksgiving Day, the family urges Carlotta and Jesse to pull the wishbone together for a game, but Jesse hesitates. Jimmy steps in to play, and Carlotta wins by breaking off the bigger fragment first, meaning she gets a wish. Jesse wakes up that night after a nap and turns frantic when she hears that the children are out trying the skates with Carlotta. She runs out to the riverbank and sees the children surrounding a large break in the ice. Jimmy is missing, and Jesse dreadfully ascertains that he has fallen in. On the side of the river, she sees Carlotta watching the scene with a smile. She runs to Carlotta and grabs an object on the ground behind her and strikes her with it. Carlotta collapses on the ground and blood flows from the back of her neck. Jesse realizes the object she used was one of the new steel skates, and she hears Jimmy calling out her name from behind.