Singing Wolf has reached his seventeenth summer, and the time has come to prove himself as a hunter. . . and a lover. But Singing Wolf has a rival in the hunt for buffalo and in the courtship of the beautiful woman called Rain. He is a handsome stranger from the eastern band of the People, and he has brought a weapon of extraordinary power, magic, and danger: the thunderstick. Their enemies already have the death-dealing muskets, and if the People are to survive they must have them, too. To learn the way of the thunderstick, Singing Wolf must overcome his jealousy and accept the teaching of White Feathers . . . even as their love for the same woman threatens to destroy their clans.