Four brothers gather at their family's mountain farm to build a coffin for their dying father, Randall Stargill. Once he passes, they face the dilemma of whether to keep or sell the land that has been in their faimily since 1790. Land is more than a place to the people of the southern mountains--land is who they are. For Nora Bonesteel, Appalachian wise woman and Randall's former sweetheart, Randall's death poses a different problem: the small box that she must bury with him. When the Stargills open the box and find the bones of a child, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood becomes involved. And when Nora then refuses to reveal where she got the bones or to whom they belonged, the mountain descends into disarray, and a long history of secrets and tensions begins to unravel.-- Back cover.