When Ronnie's diplomat father sends Ronnie to live with his great-grandfather in the Niagara region of Ontario, Ronnie knows almost nothing about Canada. The old man and Ronnie don't exactly hit it off. While cooling his temper in the attic, Ronnie finds the artifact. Soon his life is split in two. In his everyday life he has to deal with school, making friends and one enemy, DD. Then there is Great Gran'dad. The old man is full of surprises, not all bad. He tells wonderful stories about the history of the region and almost a century of living there.

The other life is secret. Holding the artifact throws Ronnie back into the body of his ancestor, Ronald who has been adopted by the war chief Tecumseh. While with Tecumseh's people, he is present at local battles of the War of 1812 as well as experiencing a vision quest.

All his life he has been haunted by a spirit bear, and now he thinks it wants something. Ronnie suspects it is the artifact. But how do you return something to a spirit? After many adventures in both past and present, Ronnie solves his problems. Although he loses his great-grandfather, he outwits DD, his cruel classmate, has a fast friend in Emily and satisfies the bear.