Jake's homework is so boring even that old Rowan tree out the back window starts to look interesting.It's nothing remarkable, nothing to poke your nose into, yet when Jake does so his nose pulls him deeper, into a hidden world ruled by a king who scorns him and yet fears him, for the king knows of an ancient prophecy that a flame-haired boy shall be his doom. A world that reaches back into the world Jake does understand, where a new neighbour who likes to get chatty isn't the harmless gossip she seems and where his family's cat, Sparky, is brighter than his name.Unless Jake wants to be melted down for soup, eaten by witches or even finish his homework, he must keep the moon maiden's beads out of the king's hands - with no swordsmanship skills, no magical powers and no good way to tell friend from foe.