It's the summer of 1944 and nine-year-old Andy spends his time in the farm town of Port William, Kentucky, blissfully frolicking in fields full of tumblebugs and meadowlarks. But calamity strikes on a hot July afternoon when his Uncle Andrew is murdered in a brawl, which Andy thinks he might have been able to prevent. 50 years after the event, Andy looks back to the fateful day that changed his life forever.