Three teenagers are drawn into the hidden underside of Elizabethan England: a world where how you pray can get you hanged, and misplaced trust can kill. Catholicism is forbidden in this world, and Catholics walk the line between faith and fear. Protestant Stephen distrusts treacherous Papists but values his friendship with Catholic Hugh; Hugh and Bridget resent Protestant tyranny but find themselves relying on Stephen's help - and his silence. All of them understand both less and more than their parents realize of the dangers hovering on the margins of their lives. And this is the kind of volatile mix that can put nooses round necks.