For years, the people of Willowbridge have lived with strange goings-on in and around Fiddler's Wood, and for years, they have tried to ignore the ugly birds that watch them and the castle that comes and goes. But all that changes when Barney Witherspoon comes to live at Fiddler's End. He makes friends with Midge and together they determine to solve the mystery of the ancient wood. They don't bargain for the stone mason boggart who knows no loyalty and will serve anyone for a bowl of sweet bread and milk, but when Septimus Knott points them towards the castle, there is no turning back, and the secret of the wood is bigger than anything they can imagine.