A lost Civil War payroll from 1862 has haunted two generations of ancestors: one tormented by the sad story of the soldier who lost it, the other passionately trying to unearth the history of the man who found it. A red canoe offers a tantalizing clue to a treasure found but never discovered. Photojournalist, Derrick Nolen, accidentally enters into the obsession of competing treasure hunters and finds much more than a lost payroll. Shenandoah Life magazine has hired Derrick for a photo expose of the Shenandoah River. The project could finally launch his career to the elite echelon that he has only dreamed of since graduation from the Brooks Institute.

Out on the river, Derrick comes by an old red canoe adrift, sinking and marked with a mysterious symbol on its bow. His curiosity leads him to the MacGregor sisters and their nemesis, Ferris Johns. They become distractions drawing him into their search for an ancient mystery, haunting both families for over hundred-fifty years.

Finding the old craft could, arguably, be a stroke of good luck or bad for Derrick Nolen as it steers him into an uncertain romance, a dangerous search for treasure, an unfinished episode of Civil War history and complicates the future of his career.