Excerpt:
She flung her arms wide and stepped up to the wall. She crouched down and closed her eyes tightly for a couple of seconds. She wanted to concentrate, to try to get the motions exact. In her mind, the image of the hand stone pressed itself into her memory.
She reached out, slowly.
Her ankles were cold, she realized. She opened her eyes to find the wall out of focus. She felt sick and lightheaded, dizzy. The mist was rising once more from the well. She wanted to call out to Davey but couldn't.
"Help me," came the voice from the well. "Please, help me."
Shona pressed her hand onto the wall for support. The wall screamed. The sound echoed around her as if she was trapped in a whistling firecracker. From some place far away, Davey called her name.
The cold granite gave way under her palm. She began to fall forward and expected to crack her head on the stone but instead she felt herself being drawn through. For a time, her body seemed to be pulled apart, not that it hurt, more as if she was made of plasticine.
Down, down, down she plummeted.
Cold slivers of dampness wormed under her skin. The smell of wet earth caught in her nose and throat. Water splattered, drip by drip, onto her forehead as she lay on the dirt.

Synopsis
Recommended for ages 10 and up
Shona does not want to move to Winnipeg, Canada, but at 12 years-old she has little choice. Determined never to forget her home community of Moodiesburn, near Glasgow, she starts visiting all her favourite places including Ballayn Castle with its hand in the stone.
Before she is fully aware of what is happening, she and her cousin Davey are drawn back in time to 1567 when Ballayn is being enlarged, political intrigue is rife, and a terrible murder is about to be committed.
Unable to return to 1967, Shona and Davey find themselves caught in the past. Will they make it back to the present in time for Shona to go to Canada? Or will they be trapped forever beneath the hand in the stone?