Jon, an elephant-keeper at the zoo, and Edith, a widow who lives with her eleven cats, are the only remaining inhabitants in an otherwise abandoned village. Originally lonely neighbours, now firm friends, they are unprepared for the night when the weather vane on the old bell-tower spins, the eye of time focuses on the village, and both their lives turn with it. The arrival of spring brings with it an unexpected decision by the zoo's management which is made worse by another worrying announcement: the village's district council is planning to restore the big house on the lake and open it as a rural hotel. These two pieces of news change Jon and Edith's life over night and push them into a decision that they had hardly dared to contemplate before.