Vanessa Ann Clemens, orphaned at the age of four and living in Mr. Carey's orphanage, is turning 14. This is the age when orphans must leave to make their way in the world and Mr. Carey's plans for Nessa are frightening. Her best friend Albert has just been apprenticed as a newsboy and he, along with her teacher, Miss Eva, serve as confidants to Nessa's plan to change her undesirable fate. Just after the end of the Civil War, within days of Lincoln's assassination and the morning after her 14th birthday, Nessa escapes her fate in Independence, Missouri by stagecoach. With some savings and borrowed money, she makes her way west to Prairie River, a small town that turns out to be no more than an army outpost. Braving the dangers of Indians and traveling alone as a young girl, she finds both persecution and acceptance from those she encounters. Her fears and her strong Christian faith are major factors in her courageous reactions to people and events. Her overwhelming concern is whether or not she has done the right thing.