Fifteen year old Beth Hamlin is horrified to discover her beloved summer camp must go without campfires, due to the fire hazard from a drought. She and her friends try to perk up the other campers, but Beth isn't one to just sit (or swim, or boat, or horseback) around, when there's a challenge to be met.

Beth discovers her new cabinmate, Cassidy, knows a local Cherokee who claims the ability to do a rain dance. Now all they have to do is trick the Camp Director into letting Running Creek do the dance there, and avoid the local bully and a flying arrow or two. With luck southern Indiana will get a nice, soaking rain, and when it's over Camp Inipi can have proper campfires again.

But when things go horribly wrong, the whole area is endangered by a double disaster. Now Beth, Cassidy, and the rest of their unit may be the only people who can save not only their camp, but everyone in it.