The year is 1939 and WW2 has just broken out. As was the case at the time, children from the cities were evacuated to the countryside for their safety. So when a small group of children arrive by train to the village of Weirworld from London, they are assigned families to live with until they can return home. William Beech, or Willie, is placed with Tom Oakley. The reason for this is because his mother requested that he is to be placed with a Christian and close to a Church. Tom lives very close to the Church and attended the Sunday services each week. Tom is none too pleased about this at the beginning and goes back to the lady who placed William with him and tells her he doesn’t want the lad and to place him with someone else. But she informs him that he has no choice in the matter. “There is a war on, you know!” She tells him.

But we gradually see how Tom, or Mr Tom as Willie calls him, warms to the young man. Tom has his own battles to deal with as he still grieves over the loss of his beloved wife and son to scarlet fever. So you can understand his reluctance to have a child in his care. Similarly, we see how Willie also comes from a troubled background, though a very different one to Tom’s. He comes from an abusive family and his highly religious mother is very domineering and punishes poor Tom for the smallest of things.

When William’s mother requests that he returns to London for a few days, naturally, Tom is upset about this. The two have formed a special bond by now, and Tom has helped William with so much, including in reading and writing which he couldn’t do before. Tom also discovers that William is a very talented artist and loves drawing, something which his mother discouraged. But he has little choice in the matter but to let the lad go to London. When Tom doesn’t receive any letters from William in a few days, he decides to go to London to see what’s going on. When he gets to the address, he is informed by a neighbour that William’s mother has moved, and she had no idea that Tom was back home. But thanks to Tom’s dog, we see that Tom is, indeed, in the flat. His mother isn’t though.

What we see is how much Tom has really grown fond of the boy and how much he cares for him, and the feeling is mutual. He has to fight the authorities from every angle to secure William’s welfare, and also to get him back into his care.