When his aging father falls ill, Timothy Parsons of Boston is sent to live with his Acadian relatives in Nova Scotia. The language is new and the farm work hard, but the kind ways of the merry-hearted Acadians put him at ease, and soon Timothy is singing songs in French and building aboiteau alongside his cousins. But trouble is on the horizon: the French and the English are at war, and Acadia is caught in the middle. When the governor signs the deportation orders, Timothy must decide whether to stay with his Acadian family and face an uncertain future, or return to the safety and comfort of his life in Boston.