Robert, his worst enemy, Niker, and Kate, on whom he has a secret crush, are a few of the students picked from Miss Raynham's class to work with the elderly in a nearby home to develop a project. The project, lead by Catherine, a storyteller, is designed to solicit stories from the elderly and pass them on to the young students. Robert is picked by a seemingly crotchety old woman, Edith Sorrel. Edith tells Robert her secret lives in Chance House, a place she lived years ago. When Robert discusses this with friends he hears the story of a boy who, thinking he could fly, jumped out the top window of Chance House. Robert thinks it is Edith's son who jumped, therefore she is haunted by the memory of her dead son. Meanwhile, to taunt Robert, Niker dares him to sleep in Chance House overnight. Niker volunteers to spend the night with him there. Chance House, which is abandoned, now has a reputation as being haunted. Despite his fears however, Robert is the one who is calm during the sleepover and Niker finds himself spooked by the noises in the house. When Robert visits Edith the next time, she is very sick. He finds her in her room with her husband, Ernest. After Ernest leaves, Edith tells Robert the story of the firebird and asks Robert to make her a coat of feathers. This will be their project.