Based on a true story of an 1856 storm off the coast of Maine, Abbie's tale is one of endurance and bravery. When her father, the lighthouse keeper, sails off for supplies, he leaves Abbie in charge of lighting the oil lamps in the twin towers of their lighthouse and making sure that they don't go out. When a huge storm hits, preventing her father from returning for four weeks, Abbie keeps those lamps burning, getting up several times each night to climb the towers to check them, scraping ice from the windows so the lights can be seen at sea. In the course of the storm, she also rescues her chickens from a huge wave, thus saving the family's only source of food.