Winter, 1860. Rosalie has been granted a life of comfort and wealth but neither of these protects her when her mother suddenly dies. Polly has lead a life of grinding poverty; after losing her own mother, she finds herself alone on the bitterly cold streets of Hull. Then fate intervenes, bringing the two girls together when Polly takes a job as a scullery maid in Rosalie’s lonely house. The girls become unlikely friends and, when forced to leave the city behind, find themselves setting out to live with Rosalie’s uncle on the North Yorkshire Moors. Here they discover a life that neither of them has known before; though after finding momentary joy they soon learn once again that tragedy is never far away…