1941. Ten-year-old Tom, although somewhat a loner and a dreamer, without siblings or friends, leads a happy life. His free time revolves around helping out at the zoo where his admiration for his father's work and care for the animals is clear to all. When Tom is introduced to an orphaned elephant, Buster, a bond forms between the two of them. Tom’s world is turned upside down when his father is called away to war and access to his beloved zoo is suddenly denied to him. The horror of war is brought directly into Tom's life when, in the aftermath of the first German air raids on Belfast, he witnesses the summary mass slaughter of all animals considered dangerous at the zoo, following a Directive from the Ministry of Public Security. Tom must act to save Buster.
