In this rollicking fishy tale, two eleven-year old cousins, Sophie and Wil, uncover a secret plot by the Serpent's Chain - an ancient, magical secret society- to seize Manitoba's Legislative Building (or as it is known in Middle Gate, the Palace of the Blazing Star). The children try to unlock the Palace's hidden code, aided by a homeless women with long whiskers and fishy stench who lives by the river. This woman, though, is none other than Catfysh herself, the Spirit of the River. Stone lions, cow skulls, bison and sphinxes and even a stone Medusa spring to life to help the children save the Palace of the Blazing Star