Brimming with adventure, romance and the peaks and valleys of the human spirit, “ The Wolf and The Willow” is a historical novel of first contact between Indigenous peoples and Spanish conquistadors. The prequel to “ Windigo Moon,” Willow, a house slave of Black and Arab descent, is swept into the 1528 expedition of conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez, who hoped to colonize Florida and find native cities brimming with gold. After a disastrous journey through the New World, she encounters Wolf, a trader, storyteller, and spy for the shamans of the Ojibwe people. Wolf is on a mission down the Mississippi to find a mythical animal for his uncles among the shamans. Together, Willow and Wolf must overcome their brutal captors during a voyage through the vibrant Indian civilizations along the Mississippi, searching for a golden empire amid the ancient ruins of Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis. “ The Wolf and The Willow” offers a glimpse into the culture of many tribes, including the Anishinaabek, Tionontati, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Dakota Sioux, Mandans, Caddo, and the Mound Builder civilization of the Mississippi River Valley. Robert Downes has been a respected journalist and historian for over 30 years. He writes books of travel and adventure and lives the life he writes about. He has backpacked through more than 70 countries, with destinations ranging from the supercities of the Third World to the heart of the American wilderness. In 1991 he co-founded the Northern Express Weekly in Traverse City, Michigan, which grew into the region’ s largest weekly newspaper.