Tom Johnson is a Scot fighting with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. He is wounded and taken prisoner. Isabel, a nurse with Franco's army, is ordered to care for him. In spite of her initial animosity and their political and religious differences, they are attracted to each other. Tom is sent to Burgos for interrogation and, eventually, repatriated. He writes to Isabel but receives no reply. Not realising that his letters have been intercepted, he marries Lizzie and settles down to a farming life in New Zealand. But he cannot forget his experiences in Spain, or the nurse who cared for him in the field hospital above the Ebro Valley.