It is the winter of 1763. After ruling La Florida for over two hundred years, Spain has been forced to cede its colonial possession to England. Many of the residents of San Agustin, Spain's principal city in La Florida, have already relocated to Havana, Cuba. Only a few days are now left before the last Spanish Galleon leaves with the remaining evacuees. However, not all of the residents of San Agustin are relocating to Havana. Nine Spaniards and their families have chosen to remain in the city and live under British control. Thirty-seven others, led by Franciscan friar Pedro Avilla Menéndez, refuse to leave the land they love but also refuse to be subject to the British. They plan on moving to the uninhabited interior of La Florida where they can live a free life - as their ancestors the Timucua, Yamasee, Apalachee and other Indian tribes indigenous to La Florida did before the arrival of the Europeans. Before he leaves San Agustin, Fray Pedro is persuaded to write his life story and leave it in the safekeeping of his mentor, Padre Guardian of the Franciscans in San Agustin, José de la Cruz. As Fray Pedro begins his narrative, he reveals what has long been known to the Indios he served in the native communities surrounding San Agustin and its indestructible fortification the Castillo de San Marcos. He, himself, is a Timucuan Indian whose birth name is Olatacara. Fray Pedro's narrative explains how he was raised in the traditional ways of the Timucua. He became a hunter and a warrior, defending San Agustin against the British who raided San Agustin with their Creek allies. Then, one terrible day, his life changed forever when a Creek raiding party attacked the small village where he lived, killed his father and abducted his wife, Lalia. After extracting revenge against the British for destroying his family, Olatacara finds solace in becoming a Franciscan friar - until one day when he is forced to return to the ways of the Timucua in the hope of leading his people to a peaceful life away from the Europeans.
