Into the Circle

Adam Brake, an astrophysicist, and his son Matt arrive at the village of Milbury, where they plan to do research on the giant stones that encircle the village. They possess a painting depicting an ancient ritual in which a circle of people are turned to stone by a light beam shooting into the sky. They meet some of the villagers: Mrs. Crabtree, the housekeeper for the cottage where they are staying; Raphael Hendrick, the Lord of the Manor and their landlord; Margaret Smythe, the curator of the village museum; and Dai, an old poacher. At school, Matt notices that some of the students, ""The Happy Ones,"" are very good at mathematics and cannot be hurt physically; aside from Matt, there are three other students who are not ""happy""--Kevin Lyle, the son of the village doctor; Sandra Smythe, Margaret's daughter; and Jimmo Browning. In the meantime, Adam touches one of the stones and experiences psychic phenomena.