The Watson family moves to Stoneygate, an old coal-mining town, to care for Kita s recently widowed grandfather. When Kit meets John Askew, another boy whose family had both worked and died in the mines, Askew invites Kit to join him in playing a game called Death. Kita s association with Askew takes him into the mines where the boys look to find the childhood ghosts of their long-gone ancestors.The Watson family moves to Stoneygate, an old coal-mining town, to care for Kita s recently widowed grandfather. When Kit meets John Askew, another boy whose family had both worked and died in the mines, Askew invites Kit to join him in playing a game called Death. Kita s association with Askew takes him into the mines where the boys look to find the childhood ghosts of their long-gone ancestors.