Eden Murdoch

"There is no word in the Cheyenne language for forgiveness." On the day after Thanksgiving, 1868, George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry attack a sleeping Cheyenne village on the banks of the Washita. Ironically, it later becomes known that the village attacked was that of Black Kettle, the foremost peace chief of the Cheyenne Nation. Amidst the heartless and senseless slaughter of men, women, and children, the Seventh Cavalry discovers a white woman living among the Cheyenne. Her name is Eden Murdoch, and she was presumed dead years before. While the army expects to use her for propaganda purposes and to refute the accusations that the Cheyenne village posed no threat to white settlers, Eden refuses to take part in any such propaganda: to acknowledge that the army "rescued" her from a "savage" society. Eden avoids giving the details of her story to any of the officers; she will say only that she considered her Cheyenne husband and his other wives family. Custer's young and inexperienced aide-de-camp, Captain Brad Randall, is assigned the task of looking after Eden and locating her family. Beginning to doubt Custer's actions and struggling to act honorably, Brad is both fascinated and perplexed by Eden's eccentric behavior. He becomes obsessed with learning the truth behind Eden's bizarre journey, and when Eden begins to reveal it to him, his own future changes. Eden and Brad unexpectedly set in motion events that will echo all the way to the Little Bighorn.

These three seemingly unrelated stories collide at the Solomon Springs natural wonder held sacred for centuries because of its legendary healing properties. Murder shatters the spiritual calm that is Solomon Spring. Seeking solace from the turbulent life she has led, Eden Murdoch returns to the Solomon Spring. The tranquility of this timeless place will soon be corrupted by a local businessman who plans to exploit the sacred waters of the Spring. Eden's earnest fight to prevent this sacrilege is interrupted by her own past. Brad Randall, her one-time lover, arrives with the astounding news that the infant son Eden lost fourteen years before has been located and is living nearby. The joy of her reunion with her son and with Brad, is clouded by the reappearance of her long-estranged husband, Lawrence Murdoch, who seeks sole custody of the boy and of the prosperous ranch the boy will inherit from his adoptive father. The warring couple engage in a vicious battle, both legal and emotional, with an unexpectedly deadly outcome.