When the American ambassador to Mexico stumbles across a portrait of David Crockett drawn two years after the fall of the Alamo, a handful of Texians (as Texans were known until the 1850s) embark on a quest for the truth. The Texians are led by Sam McCulloch, a free Black man and the first Texian casualty in the Texas Revolution; Henry Wax Karnes and Juan Seguin, heroes of the Battle of San Jacinto; and Silas Grant, a resourceful sixteen-year-old who was with the Texas army and is preparing for life with Emily Perry, a resilient, intelligent young woman with red hair and emerald green eyes. Seizing a chance at redemption for the loss of friends and family at the Alamo, the Texians explore a world still healing and rebuilding from the war. They investigate the stories of Alamo survivors and sort through conflicting accounts to build a picture of Crockett’s last stand. They follow the path of the Mexican army’s retreat and learn of a wounded man escorted under guard to a ship on the Gulf Coast. Finally, the Texians slip into Mexico to find a witness to the final moments inside the Alamo. Layers of the mystery peel away to reveal a shocking secret involving Texas’s greatest enemy: Antonio López de Santa Anna.