The story is set in Victorian Britain, in 1892. When Isabel, Pip, and baby Eloise, lose their father and mother, in a tragic train crash, their evil Uncle Ernest moves into the family home in south London to ‘look after’ the children. Their brand-new house in Louisville Road, on the Heaver Estate is about to be mortgaged as Ernest would like to move to Europe. Therefore, they need to leave their home and find their father’s solicitor who holds a copy of their father’s Last Will and Testament.
Somehow, Uncle Ernest dropped the Will in the fire and mistakenly threw brandy on the flames instead of water. As the next of kin, he inherits the house, according to English law. Leaving Eloise in the care of their beloved nanny, Mrs. Wilkes, the valiant pair prepare to dive into the swampy streets of a dirty, dangerous, and dishonest London. Will they survive where evil people thrive? Can they trace the correct firm of solicitors?
A careless clerk at Sharp Thackery, the solicitors, absentmindedly lost the family’s new address so are unaware of the situation and Ernest has mysteriously and conveniently forgotten the name of his brother’s lawyers. An overheard conversation between their uncle and a visitor, who introduced himself as an Estate Agent, alerted the children to their plight.
When they next returned from boarding school, would their house still be there, would their uncle have vanished and what would have become of poor, baby Eloise? The tiresome toddler did not deserve to be ousted from her home. Finding their father’s will was the only way to stop Uncle Ernest from usurping their property. Young as they were, the children knew Ernest had been specifically cut out of the original will.
