In a remote west-country village, all is not as it seems. The minister's daughters have taken to their bed, howling and spitting pins. Rumours of bad magic and witchcraft are spreading fast, the piskies are whispering in the orchard and an ill wind is blowing. Nell, the cunning woman's granddaughter, finds the fingers of blame are all pointing towards her. With Matthew Hopkins, the Witch-Finder General, on his way, Nell is alone, trapped and in mortal danger. Who can she trust? Who will save her? In years to come, Patience Madden, the minister's youngest daughter, has a confession to make. A confession that shows another side to what happened to her sister, Grace, and to Nell, half a century before . . .