A re-read of a book first read as a child. Possibly some of the light romance elements went over my head at that age; I only recall that it was a spooky tale. It is set in the fens, an area of East Anglia, which is very flat and was reclaimed from the sea in ancient times. A well known legend is that King John lost his treasure in the Wash, an estuarine area in the fens, and this legend forms the basis of the story.

Dick (traditionally a nickname for Richard though less in favour than when the book was written) is a young man, still at school and with a slight daredevil streak. He is told by Mrs Knowles, a widow who takes an interest in his efforts at poetry, that there is a 'dark' side and 'light' side to her house. She describes a spooky experience when she was with an unnamed man near the sea and they came upon what appeared to be a waterlogged tree branch which then shifted as if alive. That night, he goes to investigate and finds the place, but the log is gone and instead there is a trail of coldness and dread. He follows, though he eventually loses it, but meets a young girl who has seen the thing moving by itself in the orchard of her family's farm.

Over the next few days, as they follow up the mystery together, they start to become closer romantically. Meanwhile they contend with various adults, some of whom try to put them off the whole thing or put it down to their water divining abilities. A Mr Miller, who turns out to be the man whom Mrs Knowles was with when she found the log, is rather sinister. They discover he has an interest in finding the treasure of King John, and he reacts with hostility to their involvement, especially to Dick. Meanwhile, the log's trail and sometimes the log itself keeps turning up and things head for a climax, with Mrs Knowles becoming mentally disturbed into the bargain.

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