In November 1848, 11-year-old Edmund Brimmer and his twin sister, whom he calls “Sis,” spend two days waiting for their Aunty Pru to return to their dingy rented room on Ann Street in Providence, Rhode Island. Hailing from London, England, the family has been in Providence for a month searching for the children’s mother. 

Edmund and Sis are worried and hungry, but Edmund is reluctant to disobey Aunty’s orders to stay in the room. Sis, less concerned with Aunty’s rules, finally convinces him to run to the nearby saloon for food, and Edmund agrees under the condition that he lock her in to keep her safe. With their remaining five cents, Edmund can only afford to buy half a loaf of bread. As he runs back to the tenement, an old man, his face bundled in a scarf against the cold, stops him to ask for guidance. Torn between Sis and this stranger, Edmund decides the respectable thing to do is to help the elderly man. After spending the next 20 minutes walking the man to his destination, Edmund races back to his room. When he unlocks the door, Sis is gone.