Chessen Waterhouse is a dreamer. Brought up in a farmhouse in the lonely wilds of Dartmoor, she is considered an outsider by her peers and the local community, so she takes refuge in books. But there is one person in the community who finds her intriguing. Sam White, son of a local farmer, has watched Chessen from afar for as long as he can remember.

Violet lives in the Dartmoor of the late eighteenth century, when a very different set of pressures govern life. Despite the village fear of the local Wise Woman Gracie, Violet is fascinated by Gracie and the work she does, and in time they develop a friendship, which leads to the discovery that she has an aptitude for herb lore. Her father, discovering the covert lessons, reluctantly agrees to allow them to continue, promising that he will tell Violet's Mother when the time is right. But Joshua's sudden death leaves Violet with her secret untold. Church law of old states that the dead must be buried in the parish church, but at this time, the church is situated across the other side of the moor. The journey is said to be "eight miles in good weather, and fifteen miles in foul". With no other alternative, Violet's brother Amyas, must bury their father in a snowdrift until the weather clears and they can begin the journey.