When Mary Jane Bowser is hired out as a kitchen servant in the Confederate White House, she has a golden opportunity to gather Southern war plans. Passing those plans on to a spy for the North could help bring about the defeat of the Confederate troops. But she will be risking her life each time she slips out after curfew. She must always be on guard and stay hidden in the shadows as much as possible.

That is difficult. Richmond streets overflow with soldiers. Make-shift hospital tents are everywhere because the hospitals don't have room for all the wounded. And bounty hunters are there with their vicious dogs pursing runaways out without passes.

Mary Jane is no coward. But if in just one unguarded move, someone discovers the secret she's been keeping since her childhood, she will be hanged.