THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD NICK BARRETT was amazed to see a harbor seal swimming close to the Cape Cod shore. But when the seal suddenly vanished in a crashing wave and an oddly dressed boy washed up on the beach, Nick's summer vacation changed in an instant. Why did this boy seem so very different than Nick and his friends? Why did his speech sound so old-fashioned? And why did this boy, Ethan Kemp, have no memory of where he came from? Back in Nick's hometown of Sudbury, Ethan and his new friends try to solve the mystery of his past. They soon find themselves drawn deeply into a century's old puzzle...