Desperate and on the run, Tillie Thornton finds herself in an uneasy partnership with Graeme McLeod, a daring adventurer who comes out of nowhere to thwart the plot of Tillie's would-be kidnappers. Now these two must join forces against their common enemies, as well as the challenges of nature, as they embark on a quest that could bring them the answers they seek, or cost them everything.

When one of his goats gives birth, Muhamad spends the night alone in the desert and thus becomes a man in the eyes of his family.

A French balloonist crashes in the Sahara and returns to France with a Tuareg princess for a wife. They have a son, Moussa, who spends his childhood playing with Paul, his cousin. As men, the cousins meet on the battlefield in the desert, Moussa defending the Tuaregs from the invading French.