Catalina is a slave with an insatiable desire for freedom. After escaping for a second time, she is recaptured and sold to the Morley Estate on the other side of Jamaica. Unable to accept captivity, she plans to escape yet again but is temporarily thwarted by tragic events in Kingston. Her master's passionate interest in her brings some respite-until the arrival of his new wife. Both women raise sons for Charles Morley. But while others withhold a secret that could unite them, they struggle for supremacy on the estate, bringing them to a confrontation as destructive as the Maroon rebellion simmering in the mountains.