Brothers Theodore and Rollie are excited to welcome their father home from fighting in the American civil war. The excitement is short lived and in a matter of days the two boys find themselves standing on the front steps of an orphanage. They try to adjust to life without parents, but as soon as they begin to make friends and get comfortable, the entire orphanage is marched through town and loaded onto a train that will take them all around the country to be adopted. Theodore promised his mother that he would look after his younger brother, but when Rollie gets adopted without him, he wonders if he can keep that promise. Jumping from the train, running from deadly snakes, and meeting people from walks of life he's only ever read about all await him as he begins an 80-mile adventure that he can only pray will lead back to his brother.