In the Midlands of the 19th century, Leah is forced to take on her pedlar grandfather's tally round to save her family from starvation. She makes a disastrous trip as peddler of the surplus knitted garments from the family's stockinger's shop. She is armed with the information from her grandfather's tally book, but is unprepared for the prejudices of her own sex, or the outrageous discrimination of the men. She encounters Ben and Nat Robertson, the bellmakers, as shee seeks out her grandfather's debtors on her first tally-round. The Robertsons are removing an old church bell for recasting - a bell with a curse stretched around its rim damning anyone who beings the bell into the light of day. As superstitious scrutiny begins to centre on Leah, Ben smashes the bell with a sledgehammer. Leah and her faithful friend Ginnie  become involved in a summer romance with the two bellmakers - but prejudice, superstition and gossip threaten to become between them - and the lust of a rich, determined man endangers Leah and those she loves.