There's no slavery in the Yorkshire Dales, not in 1887, not ever. But loving families use artful schemes to enslave the innocent. Twenty nine year old Tizzie has worked herself down to skin and bones as a dairymaid on the farm of her older brother, Jack, his Scottish wife, Maggie, their three boys and one girl, Agnes. Expert at many things, though not in spotting conniving entrapment, Tizzie yearns that young Agnes will not suffer her fate. In trying to help Agnes find an education and avoid a life of drudgery in a male dominated world, Tizzie begins to suspect and then uncover her brother's and Maggie's treachery, their lies that thwarted Tizzie's marriage and children of her own, their thefts that deprived Tizzie of all her hard earned savings, and the family's plots to enslave and use up Agnes too. With only her wits to guide her, Tizzie tries to right years of wrongs and set Agnes free.