Roberta's Gem

During the Civil War, Roberta Bradshaw, the tomboyish daughter of Robert Bradshaw, loses her parents and their stately plantation, White Oaks. Left with only her body slave, Aunt Hannah, and their slave boss, Big Joe, Roberta sells her plantation land and the three devoted survivors decide to go west. Several days into their voyage they encounter the injured, Darby Dupre, a Frenchman taking a message to the southern troops in Tennessee, and Big Joe's former slave boss from Charleston. This amazing adventure and love story related their perilous journey over the mountains led by a mountaineer, Jasper Jones and his Indian companion, Night Eagle. When Roberta saves the life of Night Eagle, he gives her a small leather pouch which holds an enormous, uncut emerald. Hoping to make it to New Orleans where Roberta's aunt lives, they manage to steal a paddle wheeler, the Bayou Bell, owned by Darby but confiscated by the Yankee troops in Memphis. This ever changing book relates their incredible journey down the Mississippi River, their being saved by a group of saloon woman who reside in a yellow house on the river, and the years during and after the war. Enjoy this heart rending and exciting read of the devoted friends who manage to survive the war against all odds.