Elon Belshay lives the life of a modern-day artist, an Apache man with a family. Mona Tallchief is his mate and Rumboy his best friend. They cut and sell juniper firewood in winter and campfire oak in summer. The two men are "hotshots", a level of expertise in firefighting rarely bestowed on an Apache. His everyday world is Apache Art. His grandfather taught him the art of this instrument and Elon became a master Apache violin maker. Plagued by the demon whiskey, he now finds a new demon in his tribe, adolescent suicide.His family is rocked by this demon, and he relapses into alcohol and drugs. Mona Tallchief suffers with him as he tries to recover. A huge forest fire assaults Cibecue, the largest fire in Arizona history. Elon Belshay pairs with his mentor, the man with the scar. They use modern air techniques to kill the fire, but old Apache knowledge to find the water.This book describes a thousand days with Apache friends, real and imagined and the problem of their world.