Liverpool 1870. On the dirty backstreets of Liverpool housemaid Maud Linklater witnesses an appalling accident. Rushing young chimney-sweep Alfred to hospital she helps nurse the boy on the overcrowded ward - and finds herself with a new job. Maud cannot believe her luck at joining trainees Alice and Eddy at the new Nurses' Training School and they form the closest of bonds. Then one day Alfred is abducted. Maud and the girls know the alleyways and slums of Liverpool are no place for a lost little boy. Can these determined women find Alfred before it's too late?