A dying woman burdens Michael Dawson, a young relative, with a vow she was unable to fulfil. The boy reluctantly takes on the task and soon finds he is confronted with mystery after mystery. Who is the young man killed in the London Blitz in 1941, in whom his aged relative had such an interest? Who carried out the century-old burglary at AUGHILLIE, a 17th-century house built by the Hamilton family during the resettlement of Ulster in the early 1600s, and why did the stolen artefacts never surface? Who is the shadowy figure who is prepared to kill to secure the information Michael is unveiling? All these things are intertwined. Danger to Michael and his family, culminating in the abduction of his mother, presents the boy with the almost-impossible task of rescuing her and solving the mysteries with which he is confronted. But prevail, he does.