It is easy to forget that for most of the novel Hannie Gossett is only 18. That testifies to her remarkable, really singular courage. Devastated at the age of six by the loss of her family to the slave economy, Hannie clings to her dream of finding her way back to her family, to the identity stolen from her. She understands that she must take charge of the trio of girls who head into the forbidding lawlessness of the Texas Outback.

Dressed for most of the odyssey like a boy, she defies cultural stereotypes of girls as helpless and vulnerable. She is a superhero. She rises to the challenge of each new and threatening encounter, at turns defying corrupt lawmen, rogue Confederate outlaws, cutthroat horse thieves, and mercenary lawyers. Inspired by the record of suffering and hope from the Lost Friends newspaper ads, Hannie sees the importance of family and refuses to abandon her dream. She endures physical hardships including long hikes through the swamp, nights struggling to sleep even as she hears predatory wild animals all around her, and hunger so keen she dreams about food; she is jailed unjustly; she is actually thrown from a moving boat. Her patience, her generous heart, her courageous spirit, her raw spirit of endurance allows her in the closing pages to find her way, against all odds, to the family that had been stolen from her.