Zellie Blake: Lowell, Massachussetts, 1834

There are sinister forces at work in the mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts in 1834. Mrs. Gird hires the orphaned Zellie to do housework and other chores, but to also spy on the girls in the boardinghouse. Since Mrs. Gird is a bigoted pinch-penny slave driver, her plans for finding out about the walk out planned by Lynda fail. The mill owners are working all the girls harder at the same wage as before and now, want to reduce that wage as well. Nearly a hundred years before the emancipation of women things are changing in Massachusetts. One of the ring leaders is the dress maker old Miss O'Brien who is the opposite of Mrs. Gird. Zellie finds a home as her apprentice and is swallowed up by the big city...