When teenagers Beth and Sam Bolton are orphaned, their baby sister is taken into a new home, so they decide to set sail for a new life too ... in America. On board the steamer to New York, Beth and Sam meet charismatic gambler Theo, and quick-witted Londoner Jack, and the four band together to seek their fortunes.

Beth has always dreamed of playing her fiddle to large audiences ... and finds herself doing so in the saloons, where she is a huge success and lovingly nicknamed Gypsy by her fans. But the foursome fall foul of local gangsters and flee to Canada, as word gets out that gold has been found in the Klondike. They embark on a dangerous and epic journey to reach the Yukon valley, trailing across snowy mountains and treacherous rapids. Who will break first? Theo, the handsome-yet-greedy bounder? Dreamy Sam, so easily influenced by money? Practical Jack, a man devoted to his friends? Or Beth, the woman with the gypsy in her soul, who cares more for music than gold?