A graphic novel about a runaway farm boy who must escape the clutches of an evil circus manager to uncover the truth of his mother’s death.

In 1914, an Australian family spirals into ruin. Avery, a young farm boy, is struggling to accept his mother’s death after an accident involving a circus pig. Hope arrives in the form of a new governess who encourages Avery to play chess and works to bring the family together. However, the father’s grief and violence shatters this hope and Avery and Sarah must flee their burning house. They arrive at a traveling circus where Avery plays chess against a machine called The Clockwork Bones. Although he loses the game, the circus manager offers Avery a job to secretly operate the chess machine. The Clockwork Bones becomes a prison for Avery but before he can escape, the truth about Sarah and the identity of the mysterious governess must unfold.