The first time Bird Speaks saw Path Down the Moun-tain, he was taken. In her he saw an intensity and passion for her work for which he could only hope. She is a Hand, a weaver of brilliantly colored cloth, and it is Path's talent with the cloth that has brought her to the Banks, the small town where Bird and his family live. She has come to study under the vigilant eye of her teacher, Heron, one of the best weavers in the land. It is the busiest time of the year for the weavers, who must weave and dye many hundreds of yards of cloth for the Midsummer Day festival, only weeks away. On Midsummer Day the year turns. It is the day you take everything you have and throw it in a huge fire so that you will be empty, ready to be filled by the new year. But Path does not want to empty herself. She hoards a gift that she will not give. It is a secret, a story from her past. As Bird pursues a friendship with Path, she begins to realize that giving the gift of her name and her story might ultimately bring her more than she ever thought possible.