Nancy and Danny meet as homeless youngsters in an orphanage in 1900 Victoria, BC and they become the close siblings neither of them ever had. Dan must leave the orphanage at 14 and he gets a job on one of the last whaling ships the year the whaling industry collapses on the Pacific Coast due to a lack of whales. Young Nancy finds work in the kitchen of a hotel working her way up to waitress as she eagerly seeks independence from her restrictive and unhappy life at the orphanage. A surprise meeting brings the two back together and their special friendship continues and blossoms. As prohibition begins in the USA, a wealthy Seattle shipping magnate draws Dan into the dangerous but lucrative rum running trade ... and the world anxiously awaits news of the beginning of WWI in Europe.