This novel is based on a true history, and it illustrates the terrible duplicity of some powerful men as they swindled Native Americans out of their rightful lifestyle and future. Although there is a well-known, shameful part of our history known as the Trail of Tears, this book is about a little-known story that unfolds in 1909 and 1990. It is told from two perspectives.
One story is told by a young pre-teen about the children who ran from unscrupulous parents, politicians, lawyers and judges who preyed upon them in order to enrich themselves. The Indian land was rich in oil, and when it was discovered, the greedy land barons descended. Unable to protect themselves, abandoned children often fled to avoid capture, being sent away to schools, or being forced to work in menial jobs. Often, they were sexually and physically abused. They fled into the woods where they eventually created a community called Shelterwood, and with the help of a few people, eventually found some safety.
The second story is told from the point of view of a forest ranger. When the bones of what looks like three small children are discovered in a cave, the author begins an investigation to find out why and how they got there. This search for information connects both stories. The author’s research uncovered an unsung female heroine, Kate Barnard. Kate worked tirelessly to help to protect young indigenous children and their families when she discovered their plight, and was the first woman to be elected as a state official in Oklahoma, before women even had the right to vote. She was eventually maligned by the men who deceived and bankrupted these Indians using their financial and political power. She was forced out of office.
This novel reveals how many of the land barons became rich on the backs of innocent Native Americans. It is the story of a shameful history that has still not been fully corrected nor have the perpetrators repented or redeemed themselves. It is a hidden part of our past that few seem to want to uncover or dwell upon. Those more powerful took advantage of the Native Americans, taking their property through elicit means, using unethical behavior spurred on by their greed. Many of the children that came from abusive families, or from the abuse that was coming from the more powerful who made the rules, tried to survive on their own. They ran away from their homes and the authorities. They formed a sort of community, living in the trees in the woods, trying to escape from those stealing their property and forcibly putting them into schools or to work for pennies in deplorable conditions. They subsisted on what they found in nature or stole from others in order to survive; the young took care of the even younger children. The children quickly discovered there was strength in numbers, and so they formed small gangs of wanderers taking care of each other, to a large extent, if they weren’t preying on each other in order to survive.
When the skeletal remains of what appears to be three small children are discovered in a cave in a remote area of Oklahoma, by some random hikers, an investigation ensues into how and why these bones came to be there. Valerie is the park ranger in charge of the investigation. Since she had only recently moved to Oklahoma to recover from the grief caused by the death of her husband, she is unfamiliar with the history. Soon, she hears about all sorts of stories and rumors concerning missing children living in the woods and about elves and spirits that haunt these woods.  As she and her child are adjusting to their new life, she must solve the mystery of some newly discovered bodies and the mystery of the newly discovered older bones.
Olive is a child that of the early 1900’s, around the same time that the children were disappearing.  As we learn her story, we learn about the terrible conditions the Choctaw Indians were subjected to by unscrupulous land barons that swindled them. The children were often removed forcibly from the home and put to work like indentured servants with no resources to call upon for help. Often, they were never seen again. Olive is from a broken home; her step-father is abusive. Two Choctaw Indian siblings, orphans, live with them, but Olive’s mother and grandmother have disappeared and her step-dad doesn’t seem to want to take care of them. After Hazel, one of the orphans disappears, Olive decides to rescue Nessa from the same fate. few are motivated to help them, preferring to use them to get rich.  Many of these unscrupulous citizens went on to become powerful politicians, lawyers, judges and patriarchs of society and the financial world.
This book offers a window into another tragic part of the history of Native Americans.