When an eccentric relative's legacy uproots the Vinton family from San Francisco to a small rural community, shy Lori hates leaving her friends and dreads starting junior high with a bunch of strangers. Nine-year-old Alex thinks living in a creepy old house is an adventure straight out of Detective Domino, his favorite cartoon show. Is Casa Madera really haunted? Did someone break into the cellar to search for hidden treasure? Who locked Lori in the attic? Fire breaks out, and everyone realizes that there is more at work than Alex's overactive imagination.

The year is l875. Seventeen-year-old Bianca Stratton accepts a teaching assignment in an isolated settlement in Southern Oregon and finds herself involved in a web of intrigue, racism, blackmail and murder. Bianca immediately antagonizes the community by allowing the local blacksmith's half-breed son to attend school. Then two of Bianca's students discover the blacksmith's body in the woods, and Tyler Wells, a young sheriff is sent to investigate. Tyler is intrigued by Bianca, but it's Jesse, the rugged foreman of a nearby ranch, who sets her pulse racing. Impatient with Tyler's methodical...