Neil Gaiman, writer of THE SANDMAN, tells a powerful and mysterious tale that begins when all the children of an English village mysteriously vanish. Rowland and Paine, the two dead boy-detectives introduced in The Sandman #25, investigate the disappearances and learn of the existence of the otherworldly Free Country. But the denizens of that realm have conceived a mysterious plot that involves several young beings of power - Suzy, the child Black Orchid; Animal Man's daughter, Tefe; Dorothy Spinner of the Doom Patrol; and Tim Hunter, the young mage introduced in THE BOOKS OF MAGIC. Continues in Black Orchid Annual #1.