Charlotte is not looking forward to spring vacation. It looms ahead, dull and lonely. Twelve years old and a little spoiled, she is the "baby" of the Paige family and used to attention. But lately her grown brothers and sister -- and even her parents -- have become increasingly preoccupied with pursuits that do not include her. The one bright spot she sees in the vacation is the Patriots' Day celebration held annually on April 19th in Concord, Massachusetts, where she lives, to commemorate the start of the Revolutionary War. But this year, all does not go quite as planned -- for Charlotte or anyone else. With an unlikely assortment of allies, including eccentric Commodore Shattuck and his difficult great-nephew Oliver, Charlotte finds herself involved in a genuine twentieth century confrontation between a handful of oddly assorted Britishers, led by an old naval friend of the Commodore's, and the celebrating Americans, which climaxes at the Old North Bridge in a snowy April dawn.