During the Spanish Civil War, young Carlos is abandoned at a completely isolated orphanage. The tensions therein have been building for years, exacerbated by the unexploded bomb resting menacingly in the courtyard. Bullies scheme, tempers flare, and a ghost that visits Carlos's bed seems to be the key to it all.

On a forgotten island at the center of the earth, twelve-year-old Cal Cobble lives at an orphanage evading a bully, avoiding all thought of the nearby prison, and dreaming of finding his father, until he meets the mysterious Mr. E and everything changes.

"For a young girl living a 'hard-knock life' in a children's orphanage, things may seem pretty bad -- especially at Christmas. But feisty Annie carries a song in her heart and hope in her locket -- the only thing she has from her parents. One day, fed up with the dastardly Miss Hannigan, Annie escapes the run-down orphanage determined to find her mom and dad. Her adventure takes her from the cold, mean streets of New York to the warm, comforting arms...

In 1940, when Delphi Keep is taken over by the Royal Navy as a communications outpost, Ian, Theo, and Carl dread being evacuated to the earl's winter residence where they will no longer be protected, but even more concerned about deciphering the third prophecy and identifying the Secret Keeper.

"Parallel plotlines set in different times, one told in text and one in art, inform each other as a young girl unravels the mystery of a ghost next door"-- 1982: Mary is a lonely orphan at the Thornhill Institute For Children at the very moment that it's shutting its doors. When her few friends are all adopted or re-homed and she's left to face a volatile bully alone, her revenge will have a lasting effect on the bully, on Mary, and on Thornhill...