Crossing the Colorado Rockies, 1864

As the Civ­il War rages, the Hitch­cocks head from Penn­syl­va­nia toward the Rocky Moun­tains, cer­tain they’ll find gold! Thir­teen-year-old Eda keeps a jour­nal as they trav­el through hos­tile coun­try and take shel­ter in a bro­ken-down cab­in. The Hitch­cock girls are unac­cus­tomed to rough­ing it. Every­thing seems strange and fright­en­ing until Eda’s 17-year-old sis­ter Belle gets a job, and Eda and her old­est sis­ter, Lucy, meet an unusu­al fam­i­ly of actors. The sis­ters are just set­tling in when Pa decides the fam­i­ly should return home.

But as they trav­el, they meet near-tragedy and are forced to stay in rough-and-tum­ble Den­ver. Pen­ni­less and freez­ing, they’re herd­ed into a tent city with noth­ing left but a few clothes and tat­tered mem­o­ries. Eda’s cer­tain they’ll nev­er escape. That’s when she meets an “ene­my” who teach­es her the most impor­tant les­son she’ll ever learn …