Richard and Juliette Willoughby live in an old farmhouse somewhere in North Yorkshire. The place has been called Starve Acre since anyone can remember and there is a local story about there being something buried in the field. A 'something' which prevents anything from growing there. Quite what it is varies from one person to the next a witch, or some tool once used by a witch, or the rope used to hang a witch but there is general agreement in the area that it is a place to be avoided. In fact, the locals blame Starve Acre for Juliettes illness, a degenerative mental condition that has transformed her into a vacant, ghost-like shell of her former self.