The Bell at Sealey Head
Wait for it, the ringing of the bell.
When you hear it, open your door to the sounds of the knights' voices welling and booming up from the grand hall, the sound of stray pieces of armor clanging on stones, dogs barking welcome, musicians beginning to play.
Hurry down to see which pair of eyes might linger on yours.
Hurry down to meet your fate ...
Sealey Head is a small town on the edge of the ocean, a sleepy place. The prominent families in town are the Blairs, wealthy merchants, and the Sproules, gentleman farmers. It might be possible, just barely, to count the Cauleys, who own the Inn at Sealey Head. Raven Sproule, who speaks of nothing but horses, is courting Gwyneth Blair. Gwyneth, who prefers to speak of books, fancies Judd Cauley.
On the outskirts of town is the one truly great house, Aislinn House, where the aged Lady Eglantyne lies dying in spite of everything her doctor, her maid, and her maid's mother, the eccentric herbalist, can manage to do for her.
All of them - and a few intriguing strangers - have a role to play in an ancient story of magic that will explain why at sunset everyone in Sealey Head hears the ringing of a bell no one can see. And why sometimes the doors at Aislinn House open not to its own dusty rooms, but to the wild majesty of a castle full of knights and princesses...
This book was published in 2008.