There might be worse fates than spending a few months at Idlewood, Laurie thought, as the Chicago winter howled around her. Certainly her Aunt Ida’s invitation was well intentioned, and she couldn’t really have meant what she said: “I have nothing of which to complain, considering my age. I only hope I will be taken before my mind fails. Fairies in the woods, indeed!”

But when Laurie and her brother, Doug, arrive at the family home in the Maryland countryside, they discover that Aunt Ida may have reason to fear...and that something is indeed in the woods.

Elizabeth Peters, whose New York Times best-selling novels are often set against historical backdrops, earned a Ph.D. in Egyptology at the University of Chicago. She also writes best-selling books under the pseudonym Barbara Michaels. She lives in Frederick, Maryland.