It is after the Change, a drastic alteration of climate and environment brought about by global warming and chemical buildup. Sage has lived in the mountains and plains of North America all her life. She grew up in a poor village family, and would have been given as a concubine to the sons of a wealthy family when she turned fourteen. Rather than accept this fate, she ran away, and lived a hard a life on the plains until she was accepted by an all woman Wander Band. When her apprentice is stolen she is drawn into a journey that takes her across a changed world. In the process she saves a village girl, partners with a mountain lion and meets Thomas, a man from the eastern coast who has far too many secrets. Together this odd group must brave dangers to right some terrible wrongs and to save the world from a threat it does not realize exists.