Frontiersman's daughter Lael Click finds strength in the teachings of her distant relative Ma Horn and the rugged land of Kentucky, but, due to the arrival of a handsome doctor, begins to question her perception of the world, God, and herself.
Morrow Little, spared when her mother and sister were killed by Shawnee warriors, is taught to forgive by her father, but there are others who are not as gracious when she falls in love and marries Red Shirt, a half-blood Shawnee.