The school holidays always brought the gang back together. Brothers John and Joel were there all year round, but Lucy, Emily, Sarah, and James only came to stay when term ended. When they got together this summer, John and Joel already had a story to tell. The freak storm had come from nowhere and was the worst either of the brothers had ever seen: a deluge of rain, gale force winds, deafening thunder, and blinding flashes of lightning seemed to chase them home from their fishing trip. When a terrifying bolt of lightning split the old oak tree clean in half, they barely escaped unscathed. When the six of them return to survey the damage, they make a strange discovery which leads to an old mystery. As if the mighty tree had finally tired of keeping its secrets and wanted the truth to finally be known.