
‘Here in the Cellar,’ Corinna says, ‘I control the Folk.

Beauty and greed, warmth and cold, walk hand in hand in this unusual fantasy to create an adventure filled with friendship, challenge, and the magic of love. Knowing this, however, does not keep Nuria, in a time of dire need, from trying to accomplish what few others have managed. Few have gotten anything but misery from it. The Wishing Well in Bishop Mayne has a mind of its own and creates problems for all who try to use its power. The Wishing Well, she is trickier than anyone has known. But there come moments when she wishes it did not exist. That is the third rule.’ Nuria has given little thought to the third rule. To no one but to me, for your wish is my wish too. But what if the wish goes wrong? ‘And for that cycle of the moon your lips are locked in this: To no one may you speak of your wish.

But that’s before she meets Catty Winter, who cannot walk, whose legs are mysteriously crippled. That is the second rule.’ Only a fool would make a wish that needs to be called back, Nuria thinks. ‘One cycle of the moon to repent and call it back. But now, because her grandfather, the Avy, has wished for them to come back, Nuria is sure that the one thing she wants a friend her own age will soon be there. That’s why there are no other children around. ‘That is the first rule.’ But Nuria doesn’t think she needs a wish.

‘A coin for passage to your heart’s desire,’ says Agnes, Guardian of the Wishing Well in the village of Bishop Mayne.
