England, 1939: At the last minute, Ruth has managed to escape. She finds work as a housemaid for a family near London. However, her thoughts and worries are back in her homeland - with her mother and especially with her father, who has been imprisoned by the Nazis. Ruth has to work hard, leaving her little time to arrange exit papers for her parents and her sister in London. Then she receives the news that her father can be released from custody - but only if he presents the papers from England within twenty-four hours.