The intrigue of caves on two continents. A young woman escapes the hated, pitying gossip of her Midwest community when she moves halfway around the globe to one of the most bizarre landscapes on earth. When a family death summons her back, she leaves with vivid memories of searchers and sojourners who live in caves and underground dwellings that have been occupied for nearly 4,000 years. She also leaves with nagging questions about rumors of antiquities smuggling by the father of the girls she tutored in the Turkish family with whom she has lived. Once back in Freedom County, USA, she makes an effort to face the dilemma of the ghastly tragedy in her family, a memory that she has shut out of her mind for nearly a decade.