In the last quarter of the 17th century, England and France were allies against the Dutch and the Spanish. During that time, a Frenchman could conceivably visit Virginia and not get shot on sight. Brigands from Virginia not satisfied with kidnapping the locals for ransom wandered over the mountains to loot the Shawnee Indians. Scalps for the hair buyers and slaves were what they were after. What they took was a beautiful Shawnee girl, sister to a chief and wife of a French trader.

In his brother’s absence, the trader’s brother, Antoine Beauvais, set out across the mountains to recover her. In Virginia, the same brigands had taken a pretty English girl, Amanda Greene, for ransom. She escaped and was retaken, but Antoine crossed her path and was diverted to rescuing the English girl at hand instead of the Shawnee girl he sought. Alone in the forest for weeks, to protect Amanda’s honor, they shared a promise to treat each other as brother and sister. Once out of the woods with the promise fulfilled and she welcomed back by her family and her betrothed, Giles Sanford, they both became reluctant for her to keep her promise to marry the wealthy planter. An argument and sharp words then an insult led to a challenge. Giles already had three notches in his rapier and intended to add Antoine to the list. Antoine was pulled in several directions. Every day his sister-in-law was in the hands of the brigands put her life at risk. Yet the deep bond that had grown between him and this English girl kept him from turning away from her and devoting full time to his primary mission. She was pressured by her father to marry Giles because of the financial security he could give her. But Antoine had set a fire in her heart that could not be quenched by the arrogant Giles. She wanted Antoine, rich or poor and she intended to get him even if she had to take up the knife and tomahawk against her own father.