I Know Where I’m Going!

Joan Webster departs her Manchester home with plans to marry Sir Robert Bellinger and secure a life of wealth and status. She projects a clear path for herself, confident in her independence. The journey toward the isle of Mull marks the start of a test to her plans and priorities.

A fierce storm prevents the boat from reaching Kiloran, leaving Joan stranded on the Isle of Mull. She encounters a patchwork community of locals whose values clash with hers. The delay becomes the catalyst for her forthcoming meeting with Torquil MacNeil.

On Mull, Joan meets Torquil MacNeil, a Royal Navy officer on eight days of shore leave who carries the island’s secrets. He hints at Moy Castle and the MacNeil lineage that governs the isle. Their initial tension gives way to a growing attraction as they share shelter from the weather.

The pair journey toward Tobermory and come upon the ruins of Moy Castle. Joan insists on entering, but Torquil refuses, revealing that he is the laird and that Bellinger is only renting the island during the war. This revelation threads the curse attached to Moy Castle into their story.

On the bus to Tobermory, locals unaware of Joan’s true identity recount disparaging stories about Bellinger. The gossip underscores class tensions and foreshadows conflicts with island life. The encounter deepens the clash between Joan’s ambitions and Mull’s reality.

In Tobermory, Torquil arranges two hotel rooms. Joan asks to sit at a separate table in the restaurant, signaling the start of a fragile boundary between them. The worsening weather outside mirrors the growing emotional tension between their worlds.

A ceilidh celebrates a diamond wedding anniversary, and three bagpipers perform. Torquil translates Nut-Brown Maiden for Joan, highlighting the line You're the maid for me. Joan, despite hesitation, dances and captivates the crowd, drawn toward Torquil.

Desperate to salvage her carefully laid plans, Joan convinces Ruairidh Mhór’s Kenny to attempt the crossing alone for £20. Torquil’s concerns clash with her determination, and he reluctantly follows because Joan’s departure would jeopardize his own hopes on the island.

Unable to stop her, Torquil boards the crossing after Catriona reveals Joan’s intent to run away. The voyage becomes a perilous ordeal as the Corryvreckan whirlpool engulfs them, and Torquil restarts a flooded engine to bring them back to Mull.

After the danger passes and the weather clears, Joan and Torquil acknowledge the depth of their feelings. They hint at a future where the pipers might play again for them, symbolizing a possible union beyond their initial constraints.

Torquil returns to Moy Castle and finds an inscription detailing a centuries-old curse on the MacNeil line. The curse states that any MacNeil crossing Moy would be bound to a woman and die in his chains, a fateful warning ominously linked to his own fate.

From the battlements, Torquil sees Joan approaching, preceded by the three pipers playing Nut-Brown Maiden. The tension intensifies as the couple edges closer toward a fated confrontation within Moy Castle.

Joan and Torquil meet inside Moy Castle and embrace, choosing each other despite the centuries of curse and constraint. Their kiss seals a bond that defies the island’s old laws and begins a new chapter for the MacNeil line.