Faith Littlechild is eleven years old and lives with her ailing mother in a crumbling farmhouse on a desolate moor in northern England.  It is almost Christmas, but Faith is terribly miserable.

Faith is a gentle soul but everyone, even her mother, bullies and despises her.  One night, Faith asks her mother what it would take for her to be loved.  “A white Christmas,” her mother says.

Spurred on to achieve this impossible request, Faith befriends an old woman known only as “Auntie”.  Auntie states that the clouds and wind are made from human souls and that by venturing to this world Faith could influence the weather and possibly reach her goal.  However, to get there, Faith must carry a special stone called a lodestone.

No sooner has Faith unearthed a lodestone than it is stolen from her and whilst searching for it, her mother dies.  Now, Faith has no option but to travel to the heart of a vast storm cloud to find her mother and bring her back…

David Morton, 9 May 2006