When Hamish Beasly is evacuated to the quiet countryside village of Brombury he is taken in by Mrs. Platts and her daughter Penny. At first Penny is far from happy with her new house guest, but after she and Hamish discover and befriend the Briarmen, four fantastical creatures living in the forbidden Woods Beyond The Railway, they are bound together through a shared secret. Then comes the Blitz, and with it rumours of a German plane crashing into the woods. This sparks concern from the village and puts Hamish and Penny’s secret at risk, a secret they soon find out is no longer their own...