Eleven-year-old Robert Smith narratives a colourful anti-war story set in a village in the centre of the North Island, on the eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962. The legacy of World War Two hangs over the little hydro village as its residents - characters of all ages, ethnicities and nationalities - seek closure, forgiveness and even revenge, while preparing for a possible nuclear war, as an incident at the end of the war returns to shatter the village peace, What is worse, at the beginning of this fateful weekend, Robert has injured a fantail, the bird associated with messaging and death. And this is a white fantail that is the guardian of a ghostly presence that will wreak havoc if it escapes.