Somewhere in New England, teenager Adam Farmer begins a bicycle ride that he believes will take him Rutterburg, Vermont. However, he is actually riding in circles in the courtyard of a mental institution. His mind wanders back to his girl friend, Amy Hertz, who jokingly accused him and his parents of being spies because of their constant need for privacy. Still fantasizing, Adam stops at a telephone booth to contact Amy, but he is unable to reach her. While inflating his tires at an imaginary service station, Adam asks the elderly attendant for directions, indicating that he intends to visit his father, David, at a hospital in Rutterburg, though in reality, it is Adam who is hospitalized. During a therapy session with his psychiatrist, Dr. Brint, Adam recounts the night a decade earlier, when he and his family were transported to their new home in Northfield, Massachusetts, as if they were making an escape. The family was never the same again, and his only memento of their previous home was “Pokey,” a stuffed animal that belonged to his father, David, when he was a child. Following the relocation, David often sang “The Farmer In The Dell” to his son, as if it were a celebration of their surname. Adam also remembers his father being frightened by seemingly innocuous sounds. Returning to his imagined bicycle adventure, Adam stops at a diner, where he is approached by a boy named Whipper and his companions, Corn and Jed. Though Whipper pretends to be friendly, his manner is threatening and Adam declines his offer of a ride. Whipper gives him an ominous warning to be careful on the rough road ahead. Back in the present at Dr. Brint’s office, Adam recalls several visits from government agent Mr. Grey, and the discovery of a birth certificate bearing the name, “Paul Delmonte.” After questioning his father about the mysterious birth certificate, Adam learned that he and Paul are the same person. David revealed himself to be Anthony Delmonte, a former investigative journalist, who wrote an exposé that brought about the indictment of several high-ranking government officials. When David began receiving death threats, Grey intervened, giving the Delmontes a new home and identity, then falsifying their deaths in a staged traffic accident. After discovering his true identity, Adam told Amy of an impending family vacation, but omitted all pertinent details for her protection. As the Farmers embarked on a visit to their former hometown of Blount, New York, a brown delivery truck followed them at a distance. Upon reaching Blount, they visited their counterfeit gravesite, and drove past the newspaper building where David was once employed. A young man named Chris Peterson recognized David, mistaking him for a former football coach. After assuring Chris that they never met, David informed his family that he and the boy had been coworkers, and suggested they leave town immediately. During a stop along the highway, David and Betty stepped outside their car and were killed by the delivery truck. Back in the present, Dr. Brint questions Adam about the trip, including any details he may have shared with Amy. Later, the doctor listens to pre-recorded instructions from Grey, ordering him to intensify his interrogation of Adam to determine whether the witness protection program has been compromised. Returning to his imagined journey, Adam catches Whipper and Corn in the act of stealing his bicycle and he follows them to a junkyard, where an obese, childlike man named Coke demands that Adam fight Whipper to reclaim his property. However, when Adam delivers the winning punch, Coke is outraged and sends Corn in pursuit. Adam escapes the junkyard as the automated gate locks behind him. Still fantasizing, he makes another attempt to telephone Amy and becomes distraught upon learning that he has dialed a wrong number. He regains composure and continues his real-life bicycle ride, as Brint watches from his office window. Adam pedals around the yard, imagining the roadways of Vermont, while Whipper, Corn, and Jed perform their landscaping duties, and Coke sits idly by. The next morning, Grey questions Brint about Adam’s latest revelations. The doctor assures him that Adam suspects no foul play in his parents’ deaths, nor has he divulged any sensitive information to Amy. Grey is not convinced, ordering the boy’s continued incarceration, and placing Amy and her family under surveillance. Outside, Adam begins his daily bicycle ride as Grey boards the delivery truck that killed David and Betty, and drives toward the gate. Adam follows the truck and escapes as the automatic gate closes behind him. Grey later reports that his agents have been unable to locate the boy.