When nine-year-old Cheyenne Walker and his younger brother lose the mother they love and the aunt they trust, they go underground to survive. But they've spent years on the edge already and they've developed some skills. They know what kinds of foods will take them the furthest, what kind of people to avoid (Grey Tooth), and how to watch adults get the clues as to which ones will help them. What they have yet to work out is whether Dead Uncle Dick is a good ghost or a bad one and if the monstrous-looking lady in the hospital bed is really someone they love. The brothers' story is an adventure and a mystery with a sprinkling of kid jokes.