Winter has come early to Venice.

Two orphaned children are on the run, hiding among the crumbling
canals and misty alleyways of the city. Befriended by a gang of street
children and their mysterious leader, the Thief Lord, they
shelter in an old, disused cinema.

On their trail is a bungling detective, obsessed with disguises and
the health of his pet tortoises. But a greater threat to the boys'
new-found freedom is something from a forgotten past - a beautiful
magical treasure with the power to spin time itself.