The village of Skipford lives in fear. The old stories say that on some nights the sea releases her dead to come ashore and take lives from the living in return for the lives they lost. Of course, not everybody believes this nonsense. If it were so, then Gabriella Sheldrake would have had a different reception when she washed into the life of Silas Engelton, rector of the Westerton School for Young Ladies. If it were so, then Jeremiah Parkes would have a different story when he washed into the life of Abigail Stemp, the widow of a fisherman lost some years ago. If it weren't so, then nobody would have anything to fear. Problem is, old stories can hold old truths.