Alice felt very hesitant. Everything is so strange in the new country of Natal, where she and her parents, her little brother Edward and Elizabeth the baby came to reside. Things were a lot different than they thought. There was not a place for them to farm, Dad lost all the money and there was no work or housing in the primitive village of Durban. Yet they were all courageous and they accepted the challenge of the new country - everyone except Alice.

Alice soon learned, however, that if the need arises, you cheer for anything, even for the Year One. Yes, for the settlers it is no longer 1850, but a new beginning: the Year One.