Jim R. Coleman

The team of people who saved Winter's life reassemble in the wake of her surrogate mother's passing in order to find her a companion so she can remain at the Clearwater Marine Hospital.

Sheena's parents were archaeologists who died in the jungle when she was about six years old, leaving their daughter Shirley Hamilton. She was taken in by Kali, a local Shamaness of a tribe who brought her up, and five years ago she was taught how to morph into animals and birds, acquiring their abilities, even flight. Further, she became a mythical creature called "The Darachna" who relies on people' fear of the unknown. For this she covers herself in a dark liquid mud which allows her to be largely unseen in the low light of the jungle, and with more than normal strength, agility and speed, and armed with a pair of gloves with bone claws, she is a formidable one woman fighting force. She does kill sometimes.

The story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times.