<p>The day the First World War broke out, Alfie Summerfield''s father promised he wouldn''t go away to fight - but he broke that promise the following day.<br><br><b>Four years later, Alfie doesn''t know where his father might be, other than that he''s away on a special, secret mission.<br></b><br>Then, while shining shoes at King''s Cross Station, Alfie unexpectedly sees his father''s name - on a sheaf of papers belonging to a military doctor. Bewildered and confused, Alfie realises his father is in a hospital close by - a hospital treating soldiers with an unusual condition. <br><br><b>Alfie is determined to rescue his father from this strange, unnerving place . . .</b></p>