Kits only relative dies leaving her to have to go in search of her Aunt. She takes a ship to Americia and finds that her Aunt lives in a harsh enviroment there is alot of hard work to do something that kit has not had to do in the past.
The Aunt is married to a man that is very stern. Kit finds herself befriending a woman who the town people believe is a witch.The woman actually has a different religion than kits family and most of the town people and this makes her an outcast. Kit finds her to be friendly and a very giving woman. Kit also has a friendship with a young girl that is terrorized by her mother and is kept from school. Kit is a teacher and secretly helps the girl learn to read and write.when the towns people find out kit has made freinds with the witch they put her in a jail and she is afraid they will kill her.
in the end the towns people find out that Kit was only trying to be a friend and was not a witch she is set free and finds herself longing to return to her old home. she met a friend Nate on the trip to her Aunts and finds him at the end of this book and they end up being together.