We're in an English village near Dunkirk. During World War I, "Mr. Tom" Oakley was away in the navy, and his wife and young son died. He still thinks about them, and he's turned into a lonely hermit. There are now too many kids who were evacuated from London for people to house them. Mr. Tom takes in a 10-year-old boy who is very quiet at first, but he soon starts to show signs of big problems.