Eagles's father, Heads Off, leads the Elk-dog band by virtue of bringing to horse--the "elk-dog"--to the People. Eagle himself has mastered the ways of the horse, but now the warrior must learn survivor. His frightened, untrained mount, in panic in the hunt, has carried him far from his band, leaped from, a cliff, and smashed the hapless Eagle on the Rocks below. He faces a winter alone, without weapons or friends--and with a broken, useless leg. But then a strangle old man gives him shelter. Is he a demented outcast of the People? Or the legendary trickster, the mischievous Man of the Shadows?  Whoever he is--he alone will determine Eagle's fate.