When the General Lee ran aground, Laura was the one who spotted her; but then it was a race to reach her. That day it was the gig from Bryher that beat the boat from St Mary's. Laura was the toast of the island, for the repairs meant work and money for the islanders of Bryher.

It is 1907 and life on the Scilly Isles is bleak and difficult. The winter storms give way to a wretched summer and family after family moves to the mainland. Laura's father is driven to admit defeat, when a violent storm brings an unexpected harvest to the island, a special return which in an extraordinary way seems to be Laura's reward for keeping faith with the sea and its creatures.