In the spring of 1815, nearly forty years after the Revolutionary War and 45 years before the Civil War, August King travels to an open air market in the mountains of North Carolina to purchase supplies and livestock and to make the final payment on land he purchased eight years earlier. King is a pious man, troubled by the recent death of his wife and only child. When he encounters a terrified runaway slave, Annalees Williamsburg, he befriends the girl and eventually accepts her pleas for help. Offering a substantial reward for Annalees' recovery, wealthy planter and slave owner Olaf Singletary lures the community into an intensive manhunt. Gradually, rumors surface that August King harbors the girl. As they travel along, August and Annalees begin to understand the pain the other has endured, and struggle to achieve freedom from it.