This volume is about a young African American's coming of age in the mid-1800s. Born into slavery, Jeremiah has never known freedom. He only knows that life on the Slocumb plantation in Mississippi, where he lives with his mother and father, is cruel and dangerous. Though the risks are great, his father plots a daring escape for the family, and with the help of a compassionate German immigrant and former slaver, the three find their way to the wide open spaces of Nebraska -- and freedom. To Jeremiah, Nebraska is as far away from the South and all of the terrible memories of slavery, as is imaginable. His new friend is a Cheyenne boy named Blue Feather, and Jeremiah learns a great deal from him. Yet it takes a special pony -- a wild mustang he is determined to own -- to teach Jeremiah the true meaning of freedom and responsibility.