Two little girls--one white, one colored; one free, one a slave--become unlikely friends in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1852. Instinctively they know they must keep their friendship a secret. Both girls, Willa and Surry, are from loving families, but Surry's parents are slaves and can't protect their daughter from the plantation overseer's cruel hand. Overhearing her parents argue about "bein' free," Surry asks Willa to find out what bein' free means. The answer brings heartache to both girls, their childhood innocence lost in the wake of the coming War Between the States. Across Virginia in Loudoun County, much is expected of thirteen-year-old Levi Clement. He must help run the family farm and mill, and mind his brothers. He's expected to marry Comfort Clarke when he reaches his majority age of twenty-one. Levi struggles with his urgent feelings for Comfort and his instict to fight the bullies who challenge his Quaker way of peace.