TWELVE AND A HALF YEARS AGO

Twelve and a half years ago, young Grayson and Jameson Hawthorne wake on Christmas morning ready to beat their grandfather Tobias Hawthorne's rule: none of the boys may step outside their rooms before seven. Grayson has set the clocks forward, and when Hawthorne House's five grandfather clocks strike seven at 6:25, Jameson races for the Great Room.

Jameson and Grayson reach the Great Room doors at the same time, only to discover that their younger brother Xander has beaten them by rolling from his bedroom instead of stepping. Nash joins them, lifts Xander onto his shoulders, and the brothers open the once-a-year-closed doors expecting Hawthorne Christmas magic.

Instead, the Great Room is bare: no stockings, presents, decorations, or surprises, except for a stripped tree with one hidden ornament. Xander is crushed, Nash promises to fix it, and Jameson realizes the emptiness must be part of a game. The boys retrieve the ornament, and Grayson opens it to reveal a puzzle piece marked 1/6.

Recognizing that Hawthorne House has six Christmas trees, the brothers search the other trees. They collect more ornaments, assemble five puzzle pieces into a blank square, and use a flashlight keychain found in the final ornament to reveal hidden words: SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE ESTATE. Grayson correctly identifies that the key must open something, and it leads them to a golf cart.

Nash drives the brothers to the southwest corner of the estate, where they find an enormous, elaborate tree house built among four ancient oaks. Tobias Hawthorne waits there, pleased but teasing that he expected them sooner, revealing the missing Christmas as another of his grand games.