Julia Townsend accompanies her abusive British military husband to America during the American Revolution. She feels lost in that she finds herself married to a man she did not want, and is now living in an unknown environment. Her husband had to find a guide to lead his troops through the wilderness of the New World and recruits a Seneca Indian named Ki. Julia's job is to teach the Indian how to read, write, and map making skills, but as they work together, they discover a shared connection of being outsiders, when Ki realizes that he too is adrift in the world of British warfare and privilege dominated by white men.