Still on the run, Smiler hitches a train to Scotland where he finds work as an animal caretaker within the grounds of a castle occupied by 'the Laird', Sir Alec Elphinstone.
Fifteen-year-old Smiler is still on the run.
Smiler is aiming to evade the police until his father, a ship's cook, comes home to clear him of a crime he hasn't committed. Hitching a train to Scotland, he finds work as an animal caretaker within the grounds of a castle occupied by 'the Laird', Sir Alec Elphinstone.
When the Laird leaves on a trip to London, Smiler discovers that thieves are planning to invade his employer's castle.
Dare he go to the police for help?
