JEBIDIAH COLLINS, or JEB as he is known, is born in a log home early in the 19th Century in the mountain wilderness of the Choestoe Valley. This area is now the northeastern part of the state of Georgia and located at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. Jeb is born in a time when the Cherokee Indians still live and thrive in their beloved mountain home, years before their forced removal by the U.S government under the direction of President Andrew Jackson. Many European settlers have found a life in these mountains, and living among the local natives, each people has learned and adapted aspects of societal culture from the other. THOMPSON (THOMPIE) and CELIA COLLINS, parents of young Jeb, are direct descendants of Irish immigrants who settled in Choestoe during the escalation of the American Revolution as they sided with the greatest American of all time, General George Washington. Friendship and dependence has developed between the settlers and their Cherokee neighbors, and such is the case for the Thompson Collins family.
DANCING BEAR and his wife, the Cherokee Princess A-GA-LI-S-GV, SUNSHINE in translation, from the neighboring Yonah clan to the south, are a Cherokee couple who live on Slaughter Mountain. They also have a son, WOLF, who is born on the exact same cold winter's night as Jeb. The families become the best of friends, and together, the two youngsters grow and learn the ways of survival and hunting in the mountains. Be it confronting mountain "critters," rogue Indians, or rough mountain terrain, their adventures tell a story of excitement and danger involving both the Cherokee and the settlers who call Choestoe home.
CAIN, Jeb's older brother, falls in love with Wolf's sister, ROSE, and Cain and Rose embark on a journey that teaches the boys the thrills and perils of a relationship that is unacceptable to the people of Rose's mother, the Yonah clan. The clan's desire is for Rose to marry their Prince, COYOTE IS WISE. Both clans will benefit from the marriage, which will unite the two clans and make them a much stronger force in the political arena of the Cherokee tribe. The Prince makes his admiration known by sending his warrior guard to deliver an intricately carved mask of Rose's face, which captures her beauty so closely that it is as if she is peering into a mirror. This gift is a testament to the devotion and love the Yonah Prince has for Rose. The mask is delivered by the fierce and blood-thirsty Yonah warrior, TWO SUNS RISING, and he and Cain become bitter enemies from their first meeting. Rose's decision to accept the mask, which she does out of respect for her mother's people, sends Two Suns back to the Yonah valley with the false impression that Rose is agreeable to the Prince's advances. Not long after Two Suns returns to the Yonah valley, Coyote Is Wise arrives to escort Rose back south to be in the home of her ancestors in Yonah. Once there, she declares her love for Cain to Coyote Is Wise, placing Cain in serious danger. Regardless of the danger to himself, Cain's concern for Rose leads him to venture into Yonah territory to see her, and he ends up having to fight both for his life and the life of his beloved. Two Suns will not accept Rose's decision to marry Cain, his sworn enemy, leading him to commit an atrocious act against Rose's people, an act that demands swift mountain justice--Two Suns must die, and Cain will be called to make things right or die trying.
