Charlie and his friends are back in danger, and the balance of power between the Children of the Red King has never been more dangerous. Billy finally gets his longed-for parents, but he soon wishes he hadn't when the oaths he's forced to sign come flying at him. Charlie is haunted by a ghostly horse, mad with rage over an ancient wrong.

Charlie Bone awakes one morning to find the city covered with snow and all the animals gone. Where have they gone - and why? Then, a strange girl appears outside Charlie's house. She tells him he must follow her to find the animals. Can he trust her, and will she perhaps lead him to find someone he lost long before the animals?

When Asa Pike, a Bloor's Academy student with the ability to change into a beast at dusk, goes missing, twelve-year-old Charlie Bone suspects a new classmate, the magically gifted Dagobert Endless, of foul play.

In January 1916 Henry Yewbeam and his younger brother, James, have been sent to stay with their cousins at the Bloor's Academy. It is one of the coldest days of the year, and all Henry wants to do is hide from his mean cousins and play marbles. He finds a nice, long hall and begins to roll his marbles. Then he discovers a marble that doesn't look familiar to him. Suddenly a series of strange events takes place. Henry begins to disappear. He quickly...