No one weaves a tribal story quite like Robert Conley. Conley's books are entertaining, colorful, and chock-full of tribal history and culture."--Wilma P. Mankiller, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Few writers portray Native American life and history as richly, authentically, and insightfully as Robert J. Conley, an important voice of the Cherokee past. The novels in his Real People series combine powerful characters, gripping plots, and vivid descriptions of tradition and mythology to preserve Cherokee culture and history. In this, the first novel in the series, the Cherokees are caught in the grip of a struggle for their very survival. The priests, originally responsible only for conducting religious rites, have gradually extended their control to virtually every aspect of tribal life. Dissatisfaction among the Cherokees is running high, but a new urgency is added when their area is parched by the worst drought in memory, and the priests cannot produce the rain necessary to keep their people alive. Concerned with preserving their power, the priests must take unprecedented steps if they hope to forestall a public uprising. But regardless of what is done, life among the Cherokees will never be the same. Ships fast