From Newbery Award winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor comes a witty tale of the Wild West filled with comical cliffhangers and featuring a cast of plucky orphans and dastardly villains.
 
Emily Wiggins is poor and timid, without a drop of self-confidence. When she is unexpectedly orphaned, she is left all alone except for her turtle, Rufus.
 
What in blinkin' bloomers should Emily do?
 
Emily's neighbors, Mrs. Ready, Mrs. Aim, and Mrs. Fire, have the answer: Emily must travel by stagecoach to the home of her honorable aunt Hilda.
 
What a rootin' tootin' grand idea!
 
But Miss Catchum of the Catchum Child-Catching Services will get a big bonus for delivering Emily to her next of kin, the vicious Uncle Victor.
 
How the ding dong dickens will Emily escape Miss Catchum?
 
It will take all the gumption and cunning of fellow orphan and traveler Jackson to help Emily find her confidence, her conniving spirit, and the true reason Uncle Victor wants to claim her.
 
But how in flippin' flapjacks will Emily outsmart Uncle Victor?