An extraoridinary novel begins in the time of the Vikings in Newfoundland and details many events of war, death, peace, and power, bringing to life the rise and fall of empires, and then journeys forward eight hundred years later to the solitary death of the last of the Beothuk, the original native people of Newfoundland, brilliantly recreating a history that has been destroyed.

While collaborating on a history assignment about the exterminated Beothuk Indians, David and Nancy, the unconventional new girl in class, make a memorable trip to the tribe's burial place, Red Ochre Island