During the 1930s depression in Scotland, Kezzie and her young sister Lucy are orphaned following their father's death in a pit accident. Left to live with their grandfather, they manage to survive on the little work he and Kezzie can find. But life turns sour when Lucy goes missing and is taken up by an adoption agency who send her to Canada. Without hesitation Kezzie sets off to find her little sister, and after a frantic countrywide search discovers Lucy working for an uncaring couple. Having been badly treated, she is weak and seriously ill. Kezzie bravely snatches her young charge back and with the help of a local doctor and his wife nurses her to a full recovery, before making the decision to settle for life in Canada or Scotland.