In Cold Bank, Christmas Eve smelled of poppy seeds, moss and wax candles. Snow creaked under the wellies of Lena, a fourteen-year-old with a pom-pom hat. Outside the window, the lake froze smoothly, as if waiting for the first star. Everyone was bustling around the table and Grandma was humming carols under her breath. An old story said that the Winter Bell has been slumbering under the ice for centuries. It is supposed to sound once every hundred years, when someone brings it light. Lena found an envelope in a shoe, left by the door for Christmas luck. Inside lay a piece of bark with a scorched map of the lake and pier. Under the drawing was the inscription: Bring light where the water remembers names. Olek, Lena's cousin, swore it wasn't his silly joke. - After all, I don't even know how to burn the bark that evenly - he snorted. The map showed a circle on the ice, right next to the remains of an old pier. Dusk was descending fast, and the lazy sounds of plates and spoons were calling from the kitchen. Lena grabbed a lantern with the Scout Peace Light and pointed to the door. - Five minutes. We'll just check the pier,' she whispered to Olek, putting on her scarf. The snow swirled like flour from grandma's bowl as they stepped on the planks. The ice near the shore looked thick, flecked with silver cobwebs and silent. A deep murmur passed underneath, as if someone was breathing in an ice vestibule. A frozen metal handle waited in the snow, embedded in the sheet like a ring. Olek leaned over and touched the ice with his gloved hand, and the lantern shimmered. Someone had drawn an eight-pointed star on the map, perfectly over this spot. - Adjust the light so that the shape overlaps,' Lena asked. The glare slid across the ice, caught hidden cracks and unexpected fissures. A sort of staircase outlined under their shoes, leading down into the darkness. Olek stepped back reflexively, but Lena saw a hand under the ice, slowly moving a footprint. The sound rang out more clearly, clear as glass, and the ring trembled restlessly. The light pulsed, the crack cracked deeper, and something from below began to glow. - Can you hear it? - Lena leaned even closer, stretching her hand over the ice. The murmur shifted to a tone, and then to a reply that carried their names.