Brothers Ross and Eddie Marshall are back at their childhood home, fixing their late parents' house so that it can be sold. While the brothers are gathering wood, they see Mr. Ratchetson, an old man who was old even when they were children. They talk to him, and Ross recalls something his father once said. He asks where they could get the best wood, and Mr. Ratchetson says there are Ash trees in the middle of the forest, and that they might see a house there but they should move by quickly if they do. Ross wants to see the house, so he and Eddie go into the woods. Far into the woods, the brothers see a path of grass that has been pleated together with twine. Eddie wants to stay on the main path and find the Ash, but Ross says they should take a quick look off the path, asking, "what's the harm?" The brothers follow the grass to a house they think is abandoned, until they see a figure moving behind a window. The brothers turn around to see two woman watching them, who have hair that goes down to the ground and covers them like cloaks. Ross feels scared and uneasy without knowing why, but Eddie is transfixed with the women, particularly the shorter one. They leave, but not before Eddie is invited back to the house the following afternoon. Eddie insists on going back to the house even though Ross does not want him to. Eddie returns to his brother late that night, happy and whistling. He says he already ate, but he cannot recall what. The next day, Ross asks Eddie about his girlfriend Cherie, and wonders if she should come visit them. Eddie starts talking about the women in the woods again, and the brothers argue because Ross is creeped out by them. Eddie returns to the woods again, saying he was called, and he says he is going to be joined with the shorter woman who is named Carboh. Eddie invites Ross to a feast that the family is having, which is seven sisters and a mother. Ross joins Eddie just to keep an eye on him. At the feast, they all sit on the floor, and the woman form a circle around Ross and Eddie. Ross is in a trance which he thinks is from a perfume-like smell, and he cannot even remember what he eats. The mother appears, and she is bald. She says Ross should be happy for his brother, who is "winding" with Carboh. Ross gets angry, and the brothers leave. It is cold outside of the circle of women. Eddie says that it was not a perfume like Ross thought inside the circle, but the effect of the women's hair. Ross and Eddie continue to argue about the women. Eddie says that he is moving into the house with the women. Ross decides to visit Mr. Ratchetson for some answers. Mr. Ratchetson reveals that Eddie is in danger because he is for a "winding". He also says that the boys' mother was once in danger, because she had long hair that the women were jealous of, and they lashed her with thorny branches until she bled. After that, she cut her hair off. Mr. Ratchetson says that the women do foul things in the wood, and that Ross should get Eddie to leave. The morning of Eddie's "winding", Ross wakes up when he hears the door creak. He follows Eddie to the house in the woods, and wants to call out to him but does not dare. Ross witnesses the sisters sitting on top of Eddie's dead body, with their hair wrapped all the way around him and draining the life from him. One sister, who is apparently not ready to feast yet, rocks back and forth in the arms of the mother. Ross can tell that Eddie is dead because his feet are white, and he recalls when he said "what's the harm" when he and Eddie first left the path.