The mountain town of Stove has a secret - that each winter its teenagers are racked with a sickness - fever, anguish, manic behaviour. It is the job of the town's Special Deputies to contain these wild, hurting youngsters, often at great cost to both.Toby is one such Special Deputy. He survived the Winter Sickness as a boy, and now returns each year to help the current sufferers. Like the rest of his town though, he keeps the secret to avoid them being stigmatised, to save their children from a lifetime of being thought "mad".And yet, can even such a dedicated team contain the children's pain any longer? And deep down, do they even want to? The only thing they can be sure of is that any ending will not be smooth or sudden.