Hilary Napier is upset and angry when her father, Colonel Napier, brings in a new manager for the family estate which she has been running for the past year. Even though she cannot help liking Travis Kellaway, she resents his presence. But when her defences are broken down by the illness of her brother's much-loved horse, Major, she realizes Travis's strength and compassion. It isn't long before their relationship moves to a new footing. Meanwhile, life in the Devon village of Burracombe is enlivened by the new Drama Club, formed by energetic young curate Felix Copley. Almost the entire village becomes involved in the pantomime he decides to organise, with sometimes hilarious results. The leading lights in the production are bossy Joyce Warren, young schoolteacher Stella Simmons and Shirley Culliford, the little girl from the poorest cottage in Burracombe. But tragedy strikes when Travis catches Shirley and her father, Arthur Culliford, poaching in the estate woods. Shirley is injured in the ensuing skirmish and it seems that not only the pantomime, but her very life is threatened.