Upper Canada, 1804, on the edge of Chippewa territory. Flora MacCallum wakes from a malarial coma and witnesses the staggering loss her siblings have endured during their first days on the mosquito-infested banks of the Chenail Écarté. Lured by Lord Selkirk’s promise of fertile grazing land and freedom far from the Highland clearances, Flora’s father staked his life to bring his family across the Atlantic. During the struggling frontier settlement’s first bleak North American winter, Flora discovers hope through an unlikely friendship. The cldest son of a Chippewa chief offers Flora the gift of his mother tongue, shifting Flora’s relationship with the land and the truth of her own spirit. But as their furtive fellowship attracts attention, conflicts soon arise...