Every May, the three witches from Three Mothers Mountain come down to sell their goods in Toad Springs for one day. For the rest of the year, they live in isolation in their cabin. The youngest witch is in her fifties and sells delectables. The middle witch pulls a wagon, full of homunculi, with a mule. The oldest witch, the crone, carries her goods in a cupboard on her back full of jarred ghosts.

One May morning, a boy and his younger brother conspire to destroy the three witches’ cabin. They roam around the witches’ stalls and figure out which witch is the one they have a grievance with, which ends up being the oldest witch, the crone. The boy thinks about how their father once died after a car accident up in the mountains, after which their mother somehow grabs a hold of his wedding ring and gives it to the oldest witch. Three months after the ring is sent, the mother becomes depressed, and so do the two boys. One day, however, the father returns home and moves back in with them, but things aren’t the same. He no longer works, and his body is covered in bugs.

The boy asks his younger brother if he’s scared of the oldest witch. He says he isn’t. Before they go up to the witches’ cabin, however, the younger brother wants to play with his friends first. Reluctantly, the boy allows him to play for a little bit. Soon, they leave together, heading out from the witches’ stalls and walking up the mountain. They walk for hours, and eventually the empty path grows dark and ominous, marking that they’ve made it to Witch Wood. By afternoon, they make it to the cabin.

The boy recalls how, one day, he and his family are having dinner. His father opens his chest, revealing the inside of his ribcage, full of ghostly substances, the same kind that the oldest witch sells. The mother takes it from him and eats it, after which she offers it to the two brothers, but they refuse. Angrily, the mother demands that they consume it too. Grudgingly, the boy accepts it. Together, they eat.

The cabin is in a dark grove. The boy and his younger brother head inside. They look around at everything: the knick-knacks, the books, the toy figures which the witches own and display. They then get to a display of ghostly substances, the same kind of their father and the oldest witch. The younger brother urges them to start their destruction, but the boy hesitates; he feels as though he’s a lot closer to his father because of having consumed them.

The boy then decides to find something that can help their mother rather than destroying everything, but the younger brother takes a jar and smashes it. They briefly argue about the damage done, but soon, they hear the witches return. They quickly run into the kitchen, open the pantry closet, and hide inside. They hear the witches talking casually, but soon enough, they find the jar that the younger brother broke, as well as the creature inside of it. The boy tells his younger brother to run now. They burst out of the pantry closet and make their way to the back door. Outside, they find themselves in the oldest witch’s garden, and the boy comes to a stop. Turning around, they see the witches gathering before them. They are asked to come back inside for tea.

At a small table, the two brothers sit down with the three witches. The boy tells the oldest witch about how his mother sent her a letter with his father’s wedding ring, how she ruined her life because of it. The oldest witch remembers, after which she says that it’s the fate that his mother chose. The oldest witch then complains that, because of the broken jar, she can no longer get a hold of the creature that is now released. Quickly, she opens the cabin’s door and lets it out. The two brothers try to leave, but the witches hold them inside, asking them what they came for. They admit to coming for the sake of destroying everything because of their grievance. The witches then say that they simply upheld a transaction on their end, that it’s not their fault what happened to the brothers’ parents. The brothers then apologize and try to leave, but the witches forbid them.

The boy decides to enter a partnership with the witches in order to save his younger brother. The younger brother then leaves, but the boy is condemned to serving the witches for all his life, staying there for over fifty years. He does all of their chores, keeps the cabin clean, and otherwise does as they wish. Whenever he disobeys or complains, he is beaten. Once, he asks about what happened to his younger brother after that day. They never tell him. He imagines that his younger brother has learned to love the dark.