He fled Ireland. She crossed a continent. He seeks land and God. She dreams of a convent's safety. When their Faith is challenged by the erupting chaos of Alta California, their love will be their salvation.

Dec. 1844. Texas no longer belongs to Mexico. In Alta California, illegal immigrants straggle up from the southern deserts, over the eastern mountains, and down from Oregon. Californios struggle to hold their world together as newly arrived Americans ignore Mexican laws, Norte