A young woman braves an unforgiving western frontier in a historical saga "more successful than Dances with Wolves" (The New York Times Book Review).

After the death of her German immigrant parents, seventeen-year-old Jenny Dousman leaves her Wisconsin home to join her brother Otto, a Civil War veteran and buffalo hunter roaming the Great Plains where whites and Native Americans are in constant battle. But their hope for prosperity is daunted by the scarcity of prey and a savage winter that tests their limits of survival.

Then they are discovered, near death, by Two Shields, a Cheyenne who vows to keep them safe. But they must become members of Two Shields's tribe, and learn to hunt and live like his people. Jenny and Otto must decide if they should continue to depend on only each other or if they should put their lives in the hands of a man who is supposed to be their enemy.

When they make their choice, the headstrong Jenny is soon stripped of her civilization's customs and inhibitions. In joining her adopted tribe as a fierce and indomitable warrior, she'll find her true destiny.