When a ship returning from the Caribbean arrives in the 18th century port of Bristol, one of its passengers, a young boy known as Cuffey, escapes from his master. Fleeing through the busy docks, the runaway slave is determined to make his way London where he hopes to find his brother but he has no idea what to do next… until he bumps into three other children who have also just landed in the city. Travellers of a different kind, this trio and their cat have journeyed not from a different country, but from another time – the 21st century.

After rescuing Cuffey from his pursuers, the time-travelling youngsters join forces with their new friend to help him in his quest, embarking on an adventure that will eventually lead them to the home of one of the most famous scholars of the age – Dr Samuel Johnson.

Miles and miles of nothing but sand; massive dunes like golden mountains stretch as far as the eye can see, and a heat haze shimmers beneath the punishing glare of the desert sun. This is the sight that greets four young travellers from the future when they arrive in the heart of the Rub’ Al Khali desert, otherwise known as the Empty Quarter.

But what has brought them to this inhospitable environment? Only Max the talking Tonkinese cat can answer this, for he has been here before…