A girl must unravel the mystery behind disappearances in her community and the arrival of a strange boy and a wild horse in this spellbinding middle grade fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell and The Whisperwicks.

Thirteen-year-old Ella lives a lonely life near a remote lake where the horses that make up her family’s business are also her only friends. Ever since her father went missing years before, the family household has been made up entirely of women, something that’s viewed with suspicion by their neighbors, who sometimes call them witches.

Ella doesn’t believe in magic, but she does know words have power. She really should have known better than to utter a wish and a joking “curse” on the same day—a wish for a true friend and a curse on the boy bullying her little sister. Before long, the bully goes missing the same strange way her father did, and a strange boy and a beautiful black horse seemingly appear in his place. At first, the new boy seems to be the friend Ella wished for, but he’s pushy, quick to anger, and knows more than he should about her family.

As Ella digs deeper into the mysterious occurrences, she discovers her family is living in the shadow of a vengeful kelpie, and she must break its curse to save not just her family but her entire community.

Rachael King is a writer, book reviewer, and former literary festival director from Aotearoa (New Zealand). When she was young, she played bass guitar in rock bands, rode horses bareback along a beach, and voraciously read fantasy books. Now, she writes books of her own: Red Rocks and The Grimmelings for young readers and The Sound of Butterflies and Magpie Hall for adults. Visit her online at Rachael-King.com.