The story is about two Ponca boys that dream about going on a great adventure. Their family and village are chased out of their lands by an evil tribe that is moving west through the Platte Valley, spreading out north and south, killing and pillaging their way through. Broken Knife, the main character, narrates the travels and tribulations his people go through. Escaping to the east, then north to their Ponca homelands. They head west, then back south, where his people, with an alliance of other Great Plains tribes, fight a hard battle against the evil tribe. After two seasons of travel, they make it back home. Meeting different characters throughout his travels, Broken Knife and his cousin see all kinds of natural and mystical wonders. Toward the end of the story, he finds out the history of the evil and what it did over a thousand seasons earlier. Always talking about going on a great adventure, the boys realize, in the end, they had just been on a great adventure.