Four orphans and their headmistress set out for Oregon in search of men looking for mail-order brides. Will they find what they are looking for? Or will fate have other plans? Harper McCall loves teaching. Although she has never thought of the profession for herself, a new adventure and the chance to start a life in Oregon have her considering the thought more and more, especially when she starts helping a German couple and Native American woman on the wagon train learn to read and write English. Brooks Campbell has been a blacksmith for more years than he can remember. He’s dedicated to his work, finding little need for much else until he sees Harper teaching people how to read and write—something that he’s never learned to do. Mustering up the courage, he asks Harper to help him, and it’s not long before he falls for the kind woman. When an accident happens with a young apprentice on the trail, Brooks questions everything he’s ever done, taking the blame for the pain now etched in so many lives. Can Harper convince him it wasn’t his fault? And if she can’t, how will he manage to continue with the guilt all the way to Oregon?