Book excerpt: Nineteen-year-old Benjamin arrives from South Africa earmarked to be sold into slavery - but is set free by a kindly Christian in Charleston, South Carolina. Zach Johnson takes him on as a paid servant, and Ben earns the money to go west with Zach's adventurous son, Dan. To pioneer in Texas, Ben must leave his fiancee, Dorena, enslaved on the plantation until he can earn the full price of her freedom. With bold dreams and the vision of bringing their eastern brides west, Ben and Dan struggle against harsh elements and neighbor Jules Crain's blood-hot bigotry to forge a new life by faith. Then Ben learns Dorena's been sold ... and discovers the true cost of a ransom of love.