The lives of eleven-year-old Emmie Hynes and her twelve-year-old brother, Conrad are changed forever when a tragic mining accident kills their beloved Papa. Forced to bid a numb farewell to their home and friends in Butte, Montana, they move into a dilapidated boarding house in Philipsburg, a small town across the mountains. When Mama finally gets the boarding house shined up and running smoothly, and Emmie and Conrad are beginning to fit into their new community, a financial crisis threatens them with homelessness. Join Emmie and Conrad in the tumultuous world flavored with political intrigue, the fight for women's suffrage, dangerous mining practices, and labor conflicts in 1914.