In the year of 1840, folks don't cotton to people disregarding the prohibition against interracial marriage. Judge Daniel Hall knows that Ann Williams and Noah Swift Hawk are as guilty as they can be of breaking the law put into place to keep the white race pure. He has a bullet waiting for them or at the very least a whip. To escape capture, the lovers attempt a very risky avenue of escape from Little Rock and run for their lives over dangerous terrain. They encounter desperate and vicious animals and people. Some attack mercilessly. Others desperately need their help. Their exodus does not go well, and they are unable to travel far. For months, they avoid those looking for them as they hide in the forest beside Fletcher Creek in the new slave state of Arkansas. They receive help from unlikely people who are barely surviving themselves. Who escapes? Who does death claim?