It's one challenge after another for 10-year-old John Avery Whittaker! He tinkers with electronics, takes on the lead in the school Christmas play, and comes up against a new bully, all while continuing to investigate the mysterious properties of the cloth from his grandfather's trunk - if he can find it! It's missing! Meanwhile, strangers have come to Provenance and they're askings lots of suspicious questions about the Confederate gold Johnny and his friend Emmy found. And if all this weren't enough, Johnny and his family must learn to deal with the tragic result of his stepmother Fiona's riding accident. She's lost her sight - but will her blindness be permanent?"--Back cover.