As he rides along the unknown green lane, Michael finds a brief respite from the pressures of school and his family's horse-dealing business. At the end of the lane he meets Annie, who brings colour and warmth into his troubled life. But is she, as she believes herself to be, bad luck? Between her home and Michael's lies Annan Water, a deep and mysterious river. In its dark past, it seems as though the story of their love for each other might already have been told.