It is 1940 and Britain is evacuating its children. Ted Johns, son of the groundskeeper at Goonzoyle, finds himself in steerage aboard the SS City of Benares. Also aboard is the heir to Goonzoyle, Jonathan Hicks. The two boys find themselves thrown together, but only one of them survives. In 2003, Jessica Mann researches her new book, the story of the children evacuated during WWII. As Jessica digs deeper, she realizes that the events of that fateful night are haunting the present, and when human bones are found in the grounds of Goonzoyle, the past and present collide.