Britain, a number of years in the future, is on the verge of the sunset of empire feared since the chaos of the post-WWII years, to include within the very borders of the home isles. Disillusioned, politicians have allowed the English Midlands to be absorbed into an experimental opportunity zone with increasingly repressive, separate regulations and practices that gradually erode the relationship between the zone and Britain at large. John, a former zone prodigy, and Elsa, a brilliant stepchild of the zone elite, lead a small group to challenge the status quo and strike out on a journey to regain lost traditions. Joined by close friends Henry, Tom, and Arman (until an incident takes Arman on a detour), they are pursued by zealous zone enforcers, threatened by ethereal and dangerous characters, captured by lost souls, and forced to endure obstacles of uncertainty, adversity, betrayal, and disappointment. Dash with the group across the wintry English countryside in search of a secret celebration as they attempt to evade zone henchmen, with surprise help from a range of characters; Sam, son of the zone's founders; Emma and her elite team of River Welland Guards; Giorgos, an amicable Greek transporter and smuggler; Naomi and Bogart, siblings in a colony of artsy dissenters; a Persian innkeeper and, Elika, his violinist daughter; holy men from various faiths; an anachronistic ferryman; latter-day assassins who slip in and out of the zone like ghosts; and other accidental allies. Move with the group through the powerful imagery and poetic tragedy of the Great 'Oundle Run, the sinister dissolution of the independent schools, the unending agony of an angelic farm girl longing to be with her lost love, the madness of an old Mercian aristocrat who holds onto the past, the lunacy of a school frozen in time, the hints of ghosts from other eras, and a number of other adventures and encounters. Step through the wicket gate and let the storyteller in this first book of the Distant Herald series take you on a fast-paced journey in search of lost traditions, misplaced identity, new friendships, and alternatives to the gathering twilight in the green and pleasant land.