Twelve-year-old schoolboy Milo Oakley Grove, aka "Bam-Bam," lives with his parents in the little village of Lapford, in the New Forest. He is popular, energetic, and full of fun. He is also curious, impetuous and prone to changing his mind. Nothing surprising about all that, perhaps. However, there is also something indefinable about him; something untamed, wild, and just a little bit primeval. And when he has a terrifying encounter with Old Man Stephens, a "two-hundred-year-old, child-eating monster" who lives alone at the "Spooky Cottage" in the woods, it sets in train a series of events which are to change his life, and those of his family, forever. What is the reason for Old Man Stephens' treatment of him when he has him alone and at his mercy? What will his parents make of their son's clandestine activities, especially now they have different worries of their own? And why does he feel strangely attracted to his best friend Ben Davies, and what will be the reaction if he finds out? The answers lie in a long-buried code for living, a fifty-year-old tragedy, dangerously revolutionary ideas held in suspended animation, and Ben's first words, which were not the meaningless toddler-babble they first appeared. And that indefinable something? A product of nature and nurture; and a much loved childhood possession which still resides in Milo's bedroom... This book is suitable for older children/teenagers and adults. Not recommended for pre-adolescents.