As his pa lies dying, Timothy Michael O'Hara, 12, promises he will leave the Allegheny Mountains he loves, and head east to find his appointed guardians. Wise in the ways of the mountains and survival, Tim begins his journey of self-discovery and manhood, vowing to fulfill his pa's wishes. Even so, he doesn't like them. He doesn't know what he wants most in the world; he just knows that going east isn't it. Tim avoids two known thieves in the Allegheny, only to be kidnapped by these same thieves and their bond-slaver partners in the Shenandoah Valley. If he can't escape, he will spend the...

For girls of the Tuscarora Nation in the Carolinas (1711), playing lacrosse is forbidden, but Running-Girl doesn't care. She's not a maiden yet, and besides, she's absolutely no good at women's chores. But Running-Girl is afraid. She's having flash-visions-dead bodies strewn about the lacrosse field; her village bursting into flames. She tells no one, but the visions become more detailed during her Maidenhood seclusion. They show the death and destruction of her village and her parents. When she shares her visions with the Clan Mothers of the village, her name is changed to Vision-Seeker in...