In the four years since Picture Maker and her loved ones were driven north, many changes have come to a people and a land. The long, arduous journey that took Picture Maker from a young Indian separated from her tribe to a bride of a Norse hunter named Halvard has come to an end. With Picture Maker's death, it falls to Halvard and their daughter, Ingrid, to return to Greenland to reclaim their home.

But their Norse traditions are rejected by the newly Christian community there, and invasion--by both English warriors and a beautiful but devastating species of butterfly--forces the family to wander once more. They find refuge with the Inuits, who have proven to be allies in the past. But Ingrid, answering the powerful call of her mother's blood, embarks on another journey--one that takes her to a far-off land, where her true destiny awaits...