The Street Orphans

Cast out of their home, where will they turn?It's 1850. Ruth, born with a club foot, is feared by the people in the remote village in which her family lives. Steeped in superstition, the villagers see Ruth's affliction as a sign of special powers, and they believe that their suspicions are warranted when a young lad, who has teased Ruth unmercifully, falls ill and dies.When Ruth's father is killed in an accident, the family are evicted from their tied cottage, and start out on a journey to Blackburn hoping to get work in one of the many Cotton Mills. But tragedy strikes again, and a chain of events are set in motion that will send the family's lives spiralling, and cause Ruth to be hounded as a witch.Now, Ruth's and her siblings fate is in the hands of the second Earl of Harrogate, his betrothed, Lady Katrina, and her jealous sister Marcia, who never misses an opportunity. Marcia believes the Earl to be falling in love with Ruth and uses this knowledge to discredit him and to try to secure her father's wealth for herself and her equally despicable husband, Lord Bellinger.Impossible dreams beset Ruth from the moment she meets the Earl. Dreams that lead her to hope that he will save her from the terrible fate of being burned to death. Dreams that one day hers and the Earl's destinies will be entwined.