Danny is a 12-year-old boy who lives alone with his mother. After she becomes seriously ill, he ends up at a children's home, where there is an environment of abuse. He absconds and sets off to find his mother, whom he believes is now living somewhere in the north of England. One night, to shelter from the weather, he stows away on a narrowboat belonging to Alex, a retired schoolteacher who spends his time cruising the inland waterways network. Rather than turn Danny in to the authorities, Alex reluctantly allows the scared and frightened boy to stay with him on his boat, and they embark on a search for the boy's mother. Set against the background of modern-day life on the canals, this thoughtful and sensitively written book tells how Alex works to win Danny's trust and how, over the months and years that follow, they find the boy's mother and bring the abusers to justice.