When ten-year-old Emma is late by one minute to her job at the silk mill where she works ten hours a day, she is locked out. Even though none of it is her fault, she is certain her pay will be docked and her brother-in-law, Ben, will beat her when she gets home. With no idea what to do, she sinks to the ground and cries.

Until, through her tears, she sees a gate in a wall that she has never spotted before. Hesitantly, she pushes the gates open, putting off her return home. As she passes through the gate, she spots a strangely beautiful boat floating in a canal.

With nothing but hope, the gate brings Emma into an entirely new life as she finds a way to utilize her artistic gifts as a canal woman.