When her spendthrift father goes into debt after buying a sheep and the inner workings of a clock, fifteen-year-old Annie Steele is sent to work in the town's new wool mill to help support her family. Her job is full of risk—especially after she and her friend Robert discover that the mill's cruel overseer is stealing bags of wool and decide to do something about it. Annie longs for the chance to continue her schooling and become a teacher. Will she ever be able to leave the mill?