A modern classic of friendship and loss, and the deeper question, if magic exists, will I allow it into my life? Then a strange dream impels Thea, her best friend, and her little brother to sneak out in the middle of the night to search for an invisible staircase in the old willow tree in the garden behind Thea's deceased grandmother's house. Their adventure takes a dangerous turn when they discover a dark figure in the driveway tossing crumpled paper into the crawlspace under the house and setting it on fire. Is it Uncle Ray? The children get in way over their heads when they decide to find out!