It is a cold, miserable day and in 18th century London, a young beggar lad is standing in a nasty, muddy little street, his bare feet covered in gardyloo. Suddenly he hears the pounding of galloping hooves, cluttering through muck and ice, and round the corner, coming into view, rides a tall man on a big black mare. The rider pulls up quickly next to the lad, jumps from the horse and tells the lad that if he holds his horse for him he'll earn a guinea. And then he grabs his saddlebags, ruffles the boy's hair and disappears down an alley. What follows is the story of the next few hours as the boy is left holding the horse and the realisation slowly dawns on him that this is Black Bess and the rider is none other than Dick Turpin. Soon the lad finds himself surrounded by soldiers and part of a plot to trap the most famous highwaymen of them all. But Dick Turpin has always been a hero to the lad and he's determined to help the man who kindly ruffled his hair, whatever the cost.