"No well-brought-up child of Brinley would ever dream of crossing the stepping stones. In Brinley, no one ever goes out at night and cold iron guards every door and window, for the stream crossing doesn’t just lead to the deep forest—it leads to Faerie.

All children of Saxony were told Faerie stories, but the ones of Brinley whispered of protective yellow hardhay flowers and cold iron to ward away the ever-looming danger. Ciar Eckstein isn’t a well-brought-up child of Brinley. When her mother dies, her father sends Ciar and her brother to live with their grandparents, guardians of Brinley’s bridge to Faerie. Ciar’s mother’s Faerie stories were alluring, but in Brinley the tales are dark. Despite their parent’s warnings the children of Brinley play dangerous games along the bank.

Ciar is the only one to ever take the ultimate dare—cross the stream into Faerie. Faerie is beautiful and dangerous, and nothing in Faerie is quite so beautiful or dangerous as the young Fae, Mael. Ciar and Mael grow up together as Brinley watches in horrified fascination, wondering when the Fae-touched girl will disappear over the stream forever, swallowed up by the hungry woods that have claimed so many others. Brinley breathes a sigh of relief when Ciar goes off to school, town and girl finally freed.  But with a promise to return hanging in the balance, is Brinley right about what waits in Faerie?"