Little Jeremy Parish has an unusual talent. At the age of four, he can look into people's souls, see other people's dreams. The inhospitable town of Carlisle, where Jeremy ended up during the Millennium Exhibition, is able to provide answers to the boy's questions. Who is he? Why deprived of childhood? What power endowed him with an understanding of the past and the future? The dark legend of the old city, unthinkable cruelty, ruined destinies, people, at first glance, completely unrelated, but tightly intertwined in their grief, will reveal to the hero the secret of his origin and abilities.