When 19-year-old Andrea McAlister rode her horse in the dark of night on a mission to rescue a friend from the Taliban, she never dreamed she was about to be captured by a Northern Alliance mujahidin commander. The events on the Hindu Kush Pass that night marked the beginning of life changes for Andrea and Ahmed Khan Sharif. Mystery and uncertainty shadowed Andrea’s and Ahmed’s lives, which, while filled with violence, his was straightforward compared to hers. Neither one thought of giving up on each other, or on Afghanistan, even as tragedy entered their lives. This is a story about love and faith in the midst of Afghanistan’s desperate struggle to become a civil society; about the courage needed to renounce a father whose hidden evil tormented his daughter; and about deep love and joy shared by a willful, independent spirit, and a commanding, dedicated man who gave his wife limits, yet freed her from tyranny.