The Larks Don't sing in the Valley

It is 1834, and 15 year old Andy Preston sets out with fur traders, by canoe, to find his father in western Canada’s vast wilderness.  While hunting buffalo along the mighty North Saskatchewan River, Andy is suddenly left on his own when his older brother perishes in the crossfire of an Indian raid.  Badger is the youngest member of the victorious Blackfoot war party and is left to die a cruel death, before Andy comes to his rescue.  Fearing an all-out attack by the war-like Blackfoot, the canoes refuse to heed Andy’s plea for help and he is left behind—alone, with his brother’s killer.  Is Badger really the killer?  Will Andy be re-united with his father?  Journey with them, through disputed territory; witness the drama of the fur trade; experience the thrill of the buffalo hunt; and unravel the mystique of the Sun Dance.  Thrill with Andy as he discovers the love of an Indian girl and understand why she climbs out of the valley to hear the song of the larks.

This is the first book in a series that chronicles the diminishing world of the Blackfoot from their first contact with Europeans until the modern area.   In the second book, Honour, A Story of the Blackfoot Indians, meet the generation that follows Badger and Andy.  Experience their coming of age in a culture where hard won honour is the only thing that seems to matter.  Witness the change that comes to them as the leading edge of the white settlers begins to invade their homeland.