In Edinburgh, Scotland 1874, Jack is born on the coldest day ever. Due to the extreme cold, he is born with a frozen heart that will not beat. The attendant midwife Madeleine saves his life by replacing his heart with a fragile but working cuckoo clock.

She then advises him of three rules to prevent his untimely death: he must never play with the hands of the clock, lose his temper, or fall in love. Jack's mother, for reasons known only to her, quickly decides her child would be better raised by Madeleine and departs, leaving Jack. Madeleine, incapable of bearing children of her own, raises and loves him as her own.