In MIST-CHI-MAS, everyone is bound to something. Fleeing a scandal not of her making, a widow arrives at an isolated British outpost in the NW to start over. An unexpected encounter with a frontiersman gives her hope. He uses his own hard experience to move on and create a new life. When he is killed in a confrontation with a dangerous smuggler, Jeannie moves on. Twenty years pass. Seeking answers to a growing mystery, she embarks on a journey to find the lover she thought murdered years before, unaware that she is stirring up an old struggle of power and revenge at which she is the heart. Mist-chi-mas means "captive" or "slave" in Chinook Jargon. The historical novel is set on San Juan Island, Washington Territory just after the Pig War.