 Zachary Morgan (Joseph Cotten) meet while seated across from each other on a train bound for Pinehill.Zach, a victim of shell shock, has just been granted a ten-day leave from a military hospital to try to readjust to daily life.Mary, convicted for involuntary manslaughter, has just been given an eight-day furlough from prison to spend the Christmas holiday with her aunt and uncle in Pinehill.