She and the master thief Seven Skull Shield are sent to far off Cofitachequi, for an old threat has arisen on the other side of the great eastern mountains. Journeying down the Mississippi to the Tennessee, and then upstream to the Appalachians, Blue Heron's party must not only face the treacherous river, festering resentment in the newly formed colonies, and hostile barbarian tribes, but a more sinister threat travels among them.