When an overseer is distracted while harassing a young girl apprentice, a young boy is seriously injured on the mill floor. Esther, a defiant young girl protests, but soon finds herself in deep trouble. Daniel, a newly hired mechanic, turns out to be a radical firebrand at heart.

Esther faces a court appearance while Timperley finds a replacement; but the court insists she be allowed to return to work, and Esther is surprised to discover that she is considered a child of 15, when she should be an adult of 17. These and other developments at the Mill are leading to dissent and disruption.

Esther and her friend Lucy are on the run in search of the birth certificate that might free Esther but her hopes may soon be dashed. Daniel finds his radical politics on the line when love takes his heart from the factory floor.

The mysterious death of a young girl leads to scandal and rebellion. The rising of the Union threatens the running of the Mill and Esther finally discovers her fate.

We're in the tranquil, beautiful Cheshire countryside and then on to the loud, invasive sound of machinery and mules clanging back and forth. Apprentices Esther, Lucy, Miriam, George, Molly, Mary-Ann and Patience are hot, miserable and tired. As the effects of the Poor Law Amendment begin to take hold, the first of the impoverished economic migrants start to arrive.

Esther's head is still spinning from the news of her move to the village and her encounter with Will. She goes to peak at her new lodgings, beneath her handsome shoemaker. The faster mules are running the workers ragged and are becoming increasingly fatigued. Daniel tells John that the pace of the machines is dangerous.