Rachel LeMoyne, a mixed-blood Choctaw raised in a Presbyterian mission, knows that her calling in 1847 is to travel to Ireland to feed the starving people there with her own people's life-giving surplus corn. But she never expects to find a husband among the hungry and grief-stricken people--especially not a husband considered to be an outlaw.

When Rachel and Darragh return to America as husband and wife, a new challenge awaits her: they must flee to escape the authorities still searching for Darragh. But with the Irish, like the Blacks and Indians, deemed "unfit for liberty," facing factories posting "No Irish Need Apply" signs, the only place to go is west to the wild country promised to anyone who can survive the journey.