Bridie's grandfather has vanished, and the menacing Crickbone brothers have taken over his yard. Suddenly Bridie finds herself all alone in the city. It never looked so strange and threatening before. But then she begins to discover friends in the unlikeliest of places, and ends up meeting Miss Firbanks, owner of the Byzantium Bazaar, a department store where time stands still and dust covers everything. Now all Bridie has to do is solve the mystery of what happened to Gramps, and for that she enlists the help of the street people.