A woman, Caroline, writes a letter to someone named Dorothy. She begins the letter by describing a story involving her friend Elizabeth W.

One summer night Caroline heard a knocking at her door. Elizabeth was at the door and was emotionally disturbed. Caroline feared that they were under invasion by the Maori. Elizabeth tells her that prior to this she had gone looking for her friend who had gone missing.

When she went looking, she says she saw a door in the hill. The entrance was like a cave entrance with crude carvings. Elizabeth ventured inside. It was spacious and there seemed to be an artificial light at the end. She describes the passageway as not naturally made. She saw her friend, Alice, at the end against a stone slab.

Caroline continues writing the letter describing the interaction between herself and Elizabeth. Elizabeth describes Alice as not right—as imprisoned. Elizabeth insists that it is too late to go back for Alice is already gone. Caroline comforts Elizabeth until her husband takes her away. Sometime later Caroline and Elizabeth venture to the hill together only to find no evidence of a door. Elizabeth closes herself off from the community. Months later, Elizabeth disappears.

In June, Caroline goes to the hill to search for Elizabeth. Before leaving, she equips herself and informs others of where she is going. She finds a door in the hill. She ventures inside and heads toward the center of the cave. She searches for grotesque carvings. She finds bundles of women's clothing in the eight-sided room at the center of the cave. She continues further into the hill until she hears a body of water and sees a basin of water and her friend Elizabeth. Elizabeth seems well and speaks to Caroline naturally. However, something doesn't seem right. Elizabeth asks Caroline to let her out of the cave and repeatedly dodges Caroline’s questions. She starts approaching Caroline. Caroline shoots her dead and then runs out of the cave. Time passes, and Caroline becomes increasingly disturbed.

Caroline continues describing these events to Dorothy. She says that she must go back to the door in the hill. Whatever possesses the hill is inside her and that she cannot live like this. She awakens at night and finds herself digging holes in her garden until her hands bleed. She decides to go back and endure whatever fate she finds. She tells Dorothy never to come looking for her and stay out of Turanga. Caroline concludes the letter.

The letter to Dorothy was found eight months after Dorothy’s disappearance.