Cephas Catchpole is a young orphan in 19th century England, apprenticed as a chimney sweep to a cruel master. When he is mistaken for dead after an accidental fall and buried alive, he is rescued from his fate by two unwitting bodysnatchers. Against his will, Cephas finds himself drawn into the criminals' shady underworld and begins to uncover a murderous conspiracy involving medical malpractice, his mysterious parentage and the dreaded speckled monster itself - smallpox.