Auburn Jackson was alone, ignorant, and pregnant, but not unBibled. She had sinned and was punished with a brain-damaged child to raise in the impoverished wilds of West Virginia. But she had spunk and the guile of the street-smart, and she believed in the innate goodness in all. So armed, Auburn guts out a nursing degree while caring for her child, only to see him die like his father in a mine. Thinking to redeem herself from God's wrath, Auburn takes a nursing job for handicapped youth on Hatteras Island and finds happiness and fulfillment for a time. She revels in loving an Indian child from her own birthplace on Knapps Creek. No good deed goes unpunished, the sage says and Auburn is not immune. Marriage, an in-wedlock child, and a happy home are not in God's plan for her redemption in this love story.