Long ago, in the kingdom of Bellweather, there stood a towering clock called the Wicked Clock of the Time Dragon. Its bronze face covered the highest tower, and its hands were shaped like silver arrows pointing through the clouds. Day to day, most people believed the clock merely told the hours, but the villagers knew better. When its dragon-shaped pendulum began to swing, the days sometimes moved backward, birthdays arrived before the cakes were baked, and entire mornings vanished without warning. No one understood why—until two young problem solvers set out to discover the secret of the Wicked Clock of the Time Dragon and save the kingdom from time itself That's the part that actually makes a difference..
The Night the Calendar Broke
Mara was an apprentice clockmaker who could hear when a gear was losing its teeth. That's why pip was her best friend, a mapmaker who had once gotten lost between two walls that stood in the same place. They were unlike in many ways, but they shared one important habit: whenever faced with a mystery, they asked questions instead of making guesses.
Their adventure began during the Night of Harvest Moon, when the kingdom prepared to celebrate the longest day of the year. At sunset, the great clock began to chime—but it chimed thirteen times.
The extra stroke sent a ripple through Bellweather. Chickens climbed back to their roosts, uneaten fruit returned to the trees, and the village dogs barked at meals they had already eaten. People hurried from evening activities into morning routines, only to discover that morning had somehow become evening again It's one of those things that adds up..
“We need to repair the clock,” announced Mara.
Pip unfolded his map, but the roads on it were changing even as he watched. Consider this: “The problem may not be that the clock is broken. It may be that someone—or something—is winding it incorrectly And that's really what it comes down to..
Their only clue appeared on the face of the clock. Scratched into the metal beneath the numbers was a warning:
Time belongs to no one, yet everyone suffers because of it.
Above the tower windows, a dark shape circled through the clouds. And it had the wings of a bat, the body of a lizard, and a tail ending in the curl of a clock hand. Mara and Pip had seen it before but had always assumed it was merely a decorative weather vane.
Short version: it depends. Long version — keep reading.
Now the creature landed on the clock tower and spoke in a voice like grinding gears.
“You cannot repair me,” it said. “Time
