Terry Stevens worked his entire life for the opportunity to captain his own houseboat and spend his twilight years alone, fishing the mighty Mississippi like Mark Twain's characters in "Huckleberry Finn." However, things don't always work out the way we plan. One foolish mistake finds Terry lost in the swamps of the Louisiana bayous and facing more adventure than he has bargained for. Trying to find his way back to his intended course, he becomes the accidental hero for a young girl named Yu. For eighteen years, Yu has been a prisoner on a twenty foot rope - and she knows no other life. Terry encounters a variety of characters and unintentional adventures as he nurses Yu back from starvation and teaches her about the world again. In the end, Terry falls in love with this innocent girl, only to have his heart broken as it is discovered 'Yu' is actually Catherine, and she has another life that is waiting for her. In his imaginings, Terry believed Yu might be his Becky Thatcher, living an idyllic life with him on the great Mississippi. Now, he must help her return to a different world. Terry's adventure may come to an end, but it seems that his dreams are only beginning to come true.