Luke's life is rudely interrupted when his mum, Pat, collapses at the hospital where she works. Thoughtful Luke, nearly 15, and his accident-prone younger brother Jesse each cope in their own ways. As time goes on it is clear Pat is not going to recover, and Luke's world rearranges itself, while friends and family rally round.

Billy is an underage soldier who befriends a stray dog in France during WW1. When Billy is left for dead in the trenches of no-man's-land, the dog, Scruff, comes to his rescue. But Scruff is soon in danger himself ...