In the mid-1850s life for an orphan was grim as Kirsten MacGregor discovered when her parents died suddenly on a journey to Northumberland leaving her penniless and alone in the hands of a cruel farmer. Somehow Kirsten survived her terrible childhood - only to be sold at the age of 14 to a travelling tinker - a vicious man who held her captive until the fateful day they were separated during a storm. Rescued from the flood by the Flynn family she gave birth to a child as the waters raged about her. At the same time Florence mistress of the great house nearby was told that her newborn son was dead. The two women entered into a secret bargain an arrangement that was to change Kirsten's fortune and place her in the middle of a bitter feud between two families.