Nestled in the foothills of the Elk Mountains and surrounded by sprawling forests, wandering bears and porcupine, the Gunnison River rushes by the tiny town of Iola. For seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash, the day promises to be as ordinary as the porridge and fried eggs she serves the men for breakfast. But just as a single rainstorm can erode the banks and change the course of a river, so can a chance encounter in a young woman’s life upturn her world and erase everything she was before. The mysterious drifter who crosses Victoria’s path that afternoon will put into motion an unstoppable chain of events. Soon, she will be forced to run for the forest, leaving her life – and her most precious possession – behind.