The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In the bitter Christmas cold of a Maryland winter, Delaino Riodan, orphaned heir to his Conlan fortune, finally decides that enough is enough and flees the clutches of his abusive family. With him are the only two friends he's ever known-Tucker, a family slave, and Raj, an exquisitely-trained stallion Del stole from his grandfather's stables. Together they head west in search of Delaino's long-lost father, Daniel, and the promise of life and liberty on the far end of the famed Oregon Trail. Drunk on the hope and enthusiasm of newfound freedom, none of them understand the dangers that haunt their every step. Ahead lay the vast and wild frontier, filled with untold wonders as awe-inspiring as they are lethal. Behind stalks the murderous rage of Del's megalomaniacal uncle, Beaux Conlan. Left penniless by his nephew's birth, Beaux looks to remedy that problem once and for all and retrieve his property-Tucker and Raj-at all costs. Can Del and Tucker find their way across the lawless plains, or will they join the thousands of unlucky souls that came before them filling unmarked graves on the trail to the promised land of Oregon? An epic and realistic story of life on the edge of civilization, debut author Michael Lee captures perfectly the gritty essence of America's great eighteenth-century journey into the West-a journey toward the kind of destiny, freedom, and manhood only the American frontier can forge.