Midwife Elspeth Howell returns to her home after spending a few months away working. Elspeth can’t wait to get back; she has gifts for each of her five children and her husband.

What Elspeth finds, however, is a bloodbath. Her husband and children are murdered and one son, 12 year old Caleb, is missing. But Caleb is hiding and is so startled that he shoots his mother.