Samuel fell to his knees, empty.

To this day, travelers speak of a porcelain doll who appears at crossroads. She asks for directions to a father she never had. Those who are kind to her live. Those who hesitate—or, God forbid, try to help her—are found the next morning, sitting against a fence, eyes wide, mouths open in a silent scream.

In the dim light of a cold, rain-lashed night, a crooked house sat at the edge of a forgotten town. Inside, a hunchbacked dollmaker named Samuel Mulberry worked by candlelight. He had crafted hundreds of porcelain dolls—ballerinas, princesses, infants with glassy eyes—but none had ever felt alive. His hands, gnarled by age, ached for a different kind of creation.