In 1954, Marion Willis and Evan Devlin were best friends in Goldtown. Only eleven years old, they both had dreams of escaping their small town and doing big things in some far away place. They often spoke of their dreams while hiding out in their favorite abandoned mine, despite warnings from their parents that the mine could collapse at any time. One day, their parental warnings come true as the mine caves in. Marion escapes before Evan and runs home, only later learning that Evan never made it back to the Devlin house. Soon, Evan is declared dead-but he's anything but dead. Evan, too, fled the mine but runs away to start his new life as a shearer and changes his name to William. Years later, Marion has become a successful lawyer. She's called back to Goldtown when Evan's mother, Frances, is accused of murder. Both Evan and Marion took different paths, but their lives coalesce in the town of their births as Marion defends Frances in court, and Evan comes to terms with a past he thought he escaped.