Sophia Makinoff is certain that 1876 is the year that she’ll become
the wife of a certain US Congressman, and happily plans her debut into
the Capitol city. But when he proposes to her roommate instead, Sophia
is stunned. Hoping to flee her heartache and humiliation, she signs up
with the Board of Foreign Missions on a whim.
With dreams of a
romantic posting to the Far East, Sophia is dismayed to find she’s being
sent to the Ponca Indian Agency in the bleak Dakota Territory. She
can’t even run away effectively and begins to wonder how on earth she’ll
be able to guide others as a missionary. But teaching the Ponca
children provides her with a joy she has never known — and never
expected — and ignites in her a passion for the people she’s sent to
serve.
It’s a passion shared by the Agency carpenter, Willoughby
Dunn, a man whose integrity and selflessness are unmatched. The Poncas
are barely surviving. When U.S. policy decrees that they be uprooted
from their land and marched hundreds of miles away in the middle of
winter, Sophia and Will wade into rushing waters to fight for their
friends, their love, and their destiny.