The Skill is tale of romance, magic, and an endangered forest. Casey, bankrupt and deserted by her boyfriend, avoids her successful family by retreating to her grumpy Aunt Cill’s forested property in Maine. Casey needs to redeem herself by finding a good job. But a strange wind breaks her favorite oak tree, and green-gray coyote-like beasts begin to stalk her. Further up the Maine coast, young Rinne flees from her hidebound island family to avoid a marriage arranged to carry on the family magical skill. If she can find her runaway sister, Rinne can return to her beloved island. But she falls in love with a woman--not something her parents will understand. When those strange winds destroy half the forest, old Aunt Cill collapses. Rinne has the clue to stopping these winds, but when she finally discovers the answer, it might be too late.