Emma Cooper and her family live on a farm in Missouri. She works outside with her dad attempting to take the place of a brother who died tragically at a young age. She has one good friend, Simon, who decided to leave home to see the country leaving Emma with a broken heart. When she is fifteen she is kidnapped by Russell who is wealthy, owns a huge estate, and who hires a man to keep a close watch on Emma to make sure she doesn't try to escape. After a time, Russell decides to strike out on the Santa Fe Trail taking Emma with him in a covered wagon. As they travel farther and farther away from Missouri, Emma wonders if she'll ever see her family again. She questions why God has abandoned her. Was she being punished for an event from the past? Emma hates the wind that blows every day on the prairie.

Through the years of her captivity she learns that not all winds are ill winds.