A child wanders too far into the Knysna Forest ... he never returns. Nine years later government officials working on a census find a white child living with a Coloured family in the mountains beyond the forest. They take him away from the stricken Fiela, who has brought him up as her son, and give him back to his 'original' family. Stunned and helpless, Benjamin waits for Fiela to reclaim him. But, powerless against authority, Fiela never comes. Benjamin has to grow up before he can go in search of the truth ...