1815 England. Shipwrecked off Ireland and landed at Watchet Harbour, Somerset, Esmeralda Grimm and her half sister Fancy, set out on the final leg of their journey home to the House of Grimm. Stumbling upon a coven of witches in a ruined church, they flee for their lives and take refuge in a deserted tavern. Befriended by an amorous yokel, they awake to discover their horses stolen. Left to cross the wilds by foot, they are overtaken by a storm and forced to take refuge in a ditch with a tinker whose tales about the beast of the Moor make their night sleepless.