Sarah Noble, an awkward yet precocious girl, is wracked by fears of Indians having witnessed the aftermath of her grandmother's death in Deerfield, MA during an Indian raid. She has recurrent nightmares, visitations by an eerie pale horse with glowing eyes.

Against all odds, her father John chooses her to accompany him to their new homesite deep within Indian territory in the Connecticut colony. His cryptic explanation that she needs seasoning, however, conceals elements of his own early life.

Having developed deep bonds with the natives as a trapper years past, he entrusts Sarah to the local Indian tribe while he guides a passing merchant on a prolonged journey to Fort Orange in the New York colony. Left alone as the sole English girl within miles, she confronts her haunting fears and comes of age amid the strange "others.

" Her journey of discovery is guided by her deepening friendship with an orphaned Pequot girl, Takhi, who causes her to question the certainties of her English upbringing. Sarah's life path is irrevocably altered.

Peter O'Brien before retirement spent most of his career in academic settings teaching Art History or in college administration. He was born and grew up in New Milford.

He currently resides in New Hartford CT with his wife Sally and his familiar, a black cat with glowing eyes. .