Orphaned by the brutal murder of their parents, Anne and her gentle but mute brother suffer great hardships as they travel across a dangerous, pestilence-ridden Europe to their uncle, an armorer and clockmaker, and, after his death, to a distant city to deliver the commissioned plans of his precious clock.

Orphaned by the brutal murder of their parents, Anne and her gentle but mute brother suffer great hardships as they travel across a dangerous, pestilence-ridden Europe to their uncle, an armorer and clockmaker, and, after his death, to a distant city to deliver the commissioned plans of his precious clock.