Following the death of her father, 35-year-old Julia heads west on the train to meet her Uncle Caleb. He's her only remaining relative.

He's also the stationmaster at a train station out in the middle of nowhere in mountain country. It's a place that the train doesn't even stop daily but the old man makes an appearance there each day as part of his job. Anytime a train is scheduled to pass by he's there in case it stops, or if a switch needs to be thrown.

She's been writing to him in advance of her journey but she doesn't know a lot about him. Her father never had much to say about him even though they were brothers.

When she arrives, he's surprised because he thought that she was coming two weeks later.

He lives in a charming cottage that is at the top of a flight of stairs leading from the train station. She notes that when looking at the staircase from the bottom that it seems to go on forever.

They climb to the top and she settles in to take up residence with the old man.

She finds him a curious person. He has some unusual habits and things that he does are somewhat puzzling. Some things about the house seem unusual too.

Not long after her arrival, a couple appears at the cottage. They have a cabin on a path off the stairway about halfway up.

They had not planned on visiting their cabin this year but plans changed and they decided to come after all.

They too have always found the old man unusual and they've held some suspicions about him.

But, when they find his niece there, they decide to take a more active interest in the happenings at the house at the top of the stairs - if for no other reason than to make sure the girl is safe.

Don't assume anything when listening to this program. It has a couple of twists and turns and is not predictable - which is good!

It's a very interesting program and I loved the setup - the stairs going up into what the old man calls "oblivion" is enough to pique curiosity.