Old Ninety-Nine's Cave

Nestled in the rugged Shawangunk Mountains, a secluded valley cradles the modest village of Nootwyck, where the De Vere family lives in a Greek‑inspired home overlooking snow‑blanketed fields. Father John, a scholarly man, shares his evenings with a lively brood—Jack, Celeste, Eletheer, and little Cornelia—while his strict Calvinist mother, “Granny,” offers counsel drawn from the Bible. Their household is completed by the loyal couple Reuben and Margaret, who tend the hearth and the family’s daily needs.

Beneath the tranquil winter scene, tension brews. A persistent businessman, Valentine Mills, arrives with plans to buy the family’s mining claim and erect a sanitarium on Point Wawanda, a prospect that unsettles John and his children. With the mortgage looming and the town’s future tied to a promised railroad, the De Veres must weigh loyalty, ambition, and the whispered doubts of those who know the valley’s hidden histories.