For Francis, life is already confusing and unhappy. Then, his family breaks up and his mother is taken into hospital. When he goes to stay with a family who live on a farm by a river, he begins to feel a glimmer of hope at last. One day, he sets out on a journey that will change his life for ever, as he tries to find out where the river begins. The stories of Patricia St John are timeless classics and have been entertaining children and young people for generations.