Makow was not yet a man, but he sensed the tension and heard unspoken rumors of war that floated like ghosts through the Odawa lodges around Fort Detroit.  Then, in the light of a huge council fire, the great Pontiac arrives, speaking words of war against the English.

Caught up in the wild rage of the warriors, Makow is angry with his mother because of her unusual friendship with the English and for insisting that peace is better than war.  But she claims there are good reasons for her to warn the English about Pontiac’s plans, and she instructs Makow’s grandfather to take her son for his vision quest at their ancestral home-weeks away by canoe. Before he leaves, Makow is stunned by a new revelation from his mother: Makow has a twin brother who was separated from the family as an infant.

In the journey that follows, Makow searches for the truth about himself and his family.  And although he has always loved his grandfather, Makow cannot control his anger when he learns the meaning of his name and its connection to his lost brother.  In his rage, he interrupts his vision quest and joins a group of young warriors headed to a surprise attack on the English at Fort Michilimackinac.