Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and graphic violence.

Shenanigan lives at the Swift family estate with Uncle Maelstrom, her older sister Phenomena, her eldest sister Felicity, and the family matriarch, Aunt Schadenfreude. Every month, the Swift family rehearses Aunt Schadenfreude’s funeral at the woman’s insistence. During the rehearsal in early May, Shenanigan sneaks John the cat into her aunt’s coffin, sends the casket careening into the grave, and falls into the funeral cake. Aunt Schadenfreude scolds the girl and observes, “Well, you can’t help your name, I suppose” (8). The familiar saying irritates Shenanigan, but she comforts herself by remembering her plan to search for the family fortune.

Later that day, Aunt Inheritance arrives at the Swifts’ estate. In her role as the archivist, Inheritance is responsible for recording her relatives’ history and maintaining their traditions. She declares that the time has come for a Swift family reunion.

For centuries, Swifts have been named by choosing a word at random from the family dictionary. Weeks ago, Felicity destroyed a catapult that Shenanigan built, and Shenanigan retaliates by putting moths among Felicity’s cherished clothes. Felicity is distraught because the moths eat some garments that took her weeks to sew.