The year was 1893 & the night before Christmas Eve On the country estate of Lord & Lady Harrington tradition dictated it was also the night of the annual Christmas Ball given in thanks to the considerable workforce it took to run such a large estate This story is about one of those workers Drummond No-one ever knew his full name He was only ever referred to as Drummond He stood six foot six with hands the size of tractor seats which belied his profession as a master-crafstman of such skill & expertise that any Carriage Buggy or Sleigh that carried his mark would have been one of the finest in England & much sought after But now a broken fence a faulty drive belt on a threshing machine or a cracked chimney stack were the new employers of his skills But Drummond was content in his new role & the solitude it afforded him He avoided socialising within the community of the estate & was quite happy to be left alone & get on with the work assigned to him by Stephan the Estate manager As his oldest friend Stephan was one of the few people to know of Drummonds daily struggle coping with a sad & tragic past It was during spring the following year that Stephan introduced Drummond to a young stable lad called William who'd been employed at the request of Lady Harrington William was someone Stephan thought would be the perfect assistant to help ease Drummonds considerable workload for the forthcoming winter months William was a young orphan boy a stray but who seemed to possess a rare & magical gift Animals became calm in his presence & people felt at ease & happy whenever he was around Even Drummond had to concede there was something special about this scrawny little lad & so agreed to take him on as his apprentice regardless of his previous dictum of always working alone The other workers on the estate felt this to be an odd partnership & one sure to fail given Drummonds morose disposition & reticence to social participation But this happy little boy was about to prove them all wrong & have a very dramatic effect on his new teacher & mentor in the most surprising way