Stone River Crossing

Set in 1808 in the Choctaw Nation, in what is now Mississippi, the story follows two young people whose friendship across racial and cultural boundaries leads to a daring escape from slavery and a new life among the Choctaw people.

Martha Tom, a young Choctaw girl, is sent by her mother to pick blackberries for a wedding feast. Unable to find berries on the Choctaw side of the Bok Chitto River, she defies her mother's strict warning and crosses to the plantation side, where nahollos (white people) keep enslaved workers. She crosses on a secret underwater stone walkway, built a foot below the surface and known only to the Choctaws. On the other side, she eats most of the berries and wanders deep into the woods, stumbling upon a hidden clearing where enslaved field workers hold a forbidden church gathering. A large man finds her hiding in the grapevines and calls his son Lil Mo, a boy of about 10, to guide her back to the river. Lil Mo's father tells him to walk "not too fast, not too slow, keep your eyes to the ground, away you go" (10), a way of moving that renders a person invisible to hostile observers.

At the riverbank, Martha Tom reveals the stone path to Lil Mo, who crosses to the Choctaw side for the first time. She brings him to a Choctaw wedding, where he is struck by the joy and fearlessness of the people, something he has never experienced. Martha Tom's mother, Ella, scolds Martha Tom mildly for crossing the river but welcomes Lil Mo.

Over the following weeks, Martha Tom secretly attends the enslaved workers' Sunday services, growing close to Lil Mo and his family. Then a slave trader visits the plantation, and Bledsoe, the brutal overseer, gathers the enslaved families for inspection. Lil Mo's father, Lavester, hides in the barn and overhears Bledsoe reading a list of 20 people to be sold and shipped to New Orleans the next morning. Lil Mo's mother, Treda, is number seven on the list. At their last meal together, Lavester shares the devastating news. Lil Mo proposes they cross the river on the stone path, and Lavester agrees.

The family packs quickly, but armed guards surround the house. Lavester declares they will walk out the front door with faith. As they step outside, repeating the words about moving invisibly, a miracle occurs: The guards see no one. The family is literally invisible. Bledsoe arrives, baffled, fires his shotgun through the door, and burns the house down. The family flees to the river, where fog prevents Lil Mo from finding the path. Lavester grips him and invokes his true name, Moses, urging him to get the family across. Lil Mo finds the path and runs ahead to Choctaw town. Ella mobilizes 30 Choctaw women, who light candles on the shore. Martha Tom walks onto the stone path, singing a calling song in Choctaw and English. The guards, awestruck, drop their weapons and fall to their knees. Mr. Porter, the head guard and a compassionate man, is the first to lower his weapon. Lil Mo's family crosses the river hand in hand with Martha Tom.

On the plantation, Mr. Porter volunteers to take all blame for the escape, and Bledsoe beats and chains him in the barn. Joseph, Mr. Porter's younger son and Lil Mo's secret best friend, discovers his father's imprisonment and brings him water. Mr. Porter reveals he has known about Joseph and Lil Mo's friendship for years and planned to give Lil Mo the firstborn pup from their dog Reddog.

In Choctaw town, Lil Mo's family settles into a camp. On his first night, Lil Mo dreams of four Bohpoli, magical little people of Choctaw tradition, and of a Choctaw boy saving him from Harold, an aggressive teenage plantation guard. The next morning, Funi Man, an elderly Choctaw hunter whose name means "Squirrel Man," befriends the family. Ella introduces Koi Losa, whose name means "Black Panther," as one of the watchers protecting them; Koi Losa is the boy from Lil Mo's dream. Ella explains that Choctaw law protects the family because they are in a sovereign nation, but she warns that Bledsoe may cross the river regardless. Funi Man teaches Lil Mo about Choctaw spiritual beliefs and introduces Shonti, a powerful alikchi (medicine person) who travels with six rattlesnakes as companions.

When Lil Mo crosses the river to meet Joseph at their secret cave, Shonti appears and shows the boys a vision of Bledsoe's whip transforming into a rattlesnake that bites his hand, leaving him unable to use it for a month. Joseph arranges to deliver Reddog's firstborn pup to Lil Mo, who names the dog Ofijo, combining the Choctaw word for dog with Joseph's name. Harold, assigned to watch the Porter house, stalks Joseph but is outsmarted when Joseph lures him into firing his shotgun at his own lost hat. The plantation owner, Mr. Kendall, is displeased with Bledsoe's judgment and orders Mr. Porter freed and returned to his old job. As Mr. Porter walks home, the field workers stand and bow, then sing "I Am Bound for the Promised Land."

The Choctaw council officially welcomes Lil Mo's family as citizens. Funi Man offers them his deceased parents' old house, land, and a pony. Their new life is disrupted when an owl witch, an old man previously expelled from Choctaw town for using dark powers, approaches Lil Mo near the river and plants seeds of mistrust, claiming the Choctaws will betray his family. The witch gives Lil Mo a fan of owl feathers and secretly plucks a tuft of his hair, gaining supernatural power over the boy. Funi Man drives the witch away, but the witch's influence continues to torment Lil Mo through nightmares and a voice urging distrust. Shonti performs a healing ceremony but determines the witch must be killed to free Lil Mo, because the witch still holds a leather bag containing Lil Mo's hair.

Funi Man and Koi Losa track the witch to a limestone cliff, where the witch transforms into a giant owl and attacks, slashing Funi Man's wrist. Following Funi Man's instruction to act against instinct, Koi Losa diverts the witch while Funi Man breaks the creature's wing and kicks him over the cliff to his death. On the journey home, they fight off a woman reanimated by the witch's lingering power. When they arrive, Funi Man's house is engulfed in flames, the witch's final act of destruction. Koi Losa drags Funi Man from the burning house, but Shonti had already moved Lil Mo to safety, warned by a dream. Shonti burns the witch's body and destroys the leather bag, freeing Lil Mo completely.

During recovery, Funi Man accidentally drinks a love potion Shonti prepared, falls in love with her, and they decide to marry. Before the wedding, Funi Man gathers Lil Mo, Koi Losa, and Joseph beneath an oak tree and tells them his days of teaching and storytelling are ending, passing the responsibility to them. At the ceremony, Hattak Chula, the council leader, announces Martha Tom is promised to Lil Mo, and they will wed at a future Green Corn Ceremony, a traditional Choctaw ceremonial celebration, when they are grown.

During the wedding feast, Bledsoe and Harold secretly cross the river and ambush Martha Tom and Lil Mo. Bledsoe holds a knife to Lil Mo's throat and demands Treda return to slavery or watch her son die. Treda finds Bledsoe's dropped pistol and aims it at his head. Hattak Chula and five armed Choctaws emerge from the woods. In the charged moment, Bohpoli green light fills the scene, and Ofijo leaps at Treda's hand, knocking the pistol aside so it fires harmlessly into a tree. This prevents Treda from killing Bledsoe and carrying that burden forever. Lavester punches Bledsoe to the ground, and Koi Losa disarms Harold.

The next day, Hattak Chula leads a delegation to negotiate with Kendall. They exchange a large piece of river-bottom land for the permanent freedom of Lil Mo's family and an agreement that Kendall's men will stay on their side of the river. Hattak Chula also secures the return of his daughter, Tisha, who had been taken from the Choctaws and forced to serve in the plantation house. Bledsoe is dismissed from the plantation. The novel closes with Lil Mo, Joseph, Koi Losa, and Funi Man sitting together with Ofijo, sharing pashofa, a traditional Choctaw corn dish. Funi Man explains that Ofijo leapt at Treda rather than Bledsoe because killing Bledsoe would have haunted Treda forever. Martha Tom joins them, and Funi Man expresses his determination to live long enough to see Lil Mo and Martha Tom's wedding day.