The Enchanted Clock

Nine days before Christmas, the snow comes to Thornhaven.

The clock on the Town Hall is three minutes slow. It has been every day since Cael Ashford arrived, and this year he means to fix it, so that when the whole village gathers in the square on Christmas Eve, the tower strikes midnight at midnight. His gift to Thornhaven. Nobody will know until they hear it.

Then he climbs the tower and finds the clock isn't broken. Aldric set it slow on purpose, and kept it that way for forty years.

Down in the workshop, the village's enchanted toys are failing all at once. A wooden horse that always galloped now lies on its side. A music box stops halfway through its tune. And two children with a notebook have reached a conclusion: something has happened to Father Christmas.

Now there are forty-one stockings to fill, one snowbound road, a friend racing a storm to get home by Christmas Eve, and a cat who knows far more than he is telling.

Before the tower strikes twelve, Cael will learn what the three minutes are for.

The Enchanted Clock is a standalone holiday story set in the village of The Enchanted Workshop. Snowfall and lamplight, a bakery running all night, secret gifts, carolling, and the kind of found family that saves you a seat at the table. Best read with a cup of tea going cold beside you.

New to Thornhaven? Start here, then go back to where it all began with The Enchanted Workshop.