What started as a joyous reunion of friends, soon became one of the most challenging periods of their lives. Chosen as scouts for the Kuccuntikka village of the Shoshone for their trek to the grand encampment of the Shoshone, their encounter with the scouts from the Tukkutikka band would set them on a different course altogether. When Gabe meets the war leader of the other band, he is challenged at every turn by the woman warrior, his equal on every count. But when they are attacked by Blackfoot, a battle rages... When a raiding party of Hidatsa warriors strike another band of Shoshone, an old friend, the war leader of the Agaideka Shoshone, asks Gabe and Ezra to join in the vengeance party to rescue the five captive girls, one of whom is his niece known as Sacajawea. But raiding Blackfoot and Hidatsa war parties were not the only challenges for the two explorers. When a jealous Shoshone warrior tries to take the place of the woman warrior war leader and seeks vengeance, the fight rages with both the war leader known as Cougar Woman and her new mate, Spirit Bear - also known as Gabe Stonecroft.