Kate is a weaver, like her mother. They are in the middle of showing at an exhibition together, when her mother is killed. Kate knows it's her fault: if they hadn't been arguing, if she hadn't run away from her mother and crossed the road when she did .... Tiredness, grieving and guilt come together in a visit back in time to the mill, when Kate learns to survive in another time, and to look again at what is important. Above all she has to learn to weave the dark thread in her life: the sad things, the black parts which make the rest of the pattern stand out and make sense overall.