It's 19th Century England, Good King James III is on the throne, and the whole country is ravaged by wolves which have migrated through the newly-opened Channel Tunnel. When young orphans Bonnie and Sylvia get caught by the governess, Miss Slighcarp - they need their wits and Simon the goose-boy - to escape unscathed.
For Miss Slighcarp is more cruel and merciless than the wolves that surround the great house of Willoughby Chase.
Joan Aiken