In an English colony in Northern Ireland, the children of the invaders gather to be chosen at the spring hiring fair. Francis Mansfield stands in the line, unaware of his family's role in conquering the Emerald Isle and enforcing its subjugation. All he knows is his arms didn't grow. His body looks like a girl's, and his mind runs circles around his stolid family and friends. He knows nothing about himself except that he has a saint above his head and a straw dolly in his pocket, guiding him. Who then will choose him, and what work will they choose him for? And who will stop the coming war between the English and Irish?