When James Ward, a high-school freshman living in Queens, meets Cornelia Parsons he gains entry into a very old, very secretive, and to him very attractive world. Cornelia and her enigmatic guardian Miss Widdershins belong to a confederation of travelers, perpetual exiles who left Ireland and Scotland centuries ago and who now recognize no law but their own. They are facing a crisis brought on by a malignant deserter. And now Cornelia expects her new friend James to take a hand. Fans of John Crowley's Little, Big will be fans of this subtle, mysterious novel about two teens coming of age in a too-modern age.