Six stories -- one set in Dublin, the others in the countryside -- about children who get caught up in the War of Independence and suffer dire consequences. Mattie Foley dreams of escaping the harshness of life in the Dublin slums, but her dreams and reality become dangerously entwined with the discovery of a gun. When Statia Mulligan sets off to get feed for the hens, she longs for the peace and quiet of her favourite spot by the stream; she doesn't expect to become part of an ambush. Larry Quinn goes after the cow that has strayed -- how could he know that in his absence the Black and Tans would force his mother to reveal all she knows?