In the 1800s in Dunmore, a Canadian town settled by people fleeing enslavement in America, Lensinda Martin works for a Black journalist. One night, a farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman who arrived via the Underground Railroad. The farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before she can be condemned for the crime. But the old woman doesn't want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. As time runs out, Lensinda is challenged to uncover her past and face her fears in order to make good on the bargain. And it seems the old woman may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.