Having always accepted life as it is, Maggie's world transforms when she watches a butterfly burst free of a spider's web. It never occurred to her that one might actually escape. Maggie's daughter has just been promoted to the house, and becomes the personal maid to the Mistress. House hands are favored with better work and better food, so her daughter is very happy where she is. Besides, Maggie is a field hand, and all field hands know you can't trust house slaves. Lucy, the nine-year-old daughter of the Master, is a lonely child with no friends near and a mother who's hand does her talking. When Lucy sees Maggie's son break her only pitcher, and Maggie comfort rather than strike him, she yearns to feel just a little of Maggie's warmth. But Maggie knows mixing with a white child can bring nothing but trouble. One day Maggie's two young boys discover Preacher, the giant escaped slave hiding beneath the honeysuckle tree. Preacher's leg is torn bad, and the boys get Maggie to help. In Preacher, Maggie sees her path to freedom. In Maggie, however, Preacher sees yet another anchor round his neck. He can't rightly reach freedom as it is; how will he do so hampered by a mother and kids?