On Omri's ninth birthday, he receives a skateboard, a helmet, a Skeleton Warrior action figure, an old wooden cupboard, and a miniature plastic Indian. That night, Omri finds a special key and locks the Indian inside the cupboard without dreaming of the magic to follow. When Omri opens the cupboard, a three-inch-tall living Indian named Little Bear emerges. Little Bear is from the Onondaga nation, which is part of the Iroquois confederacy; he's also from 1761, a time when his people are in danger of extinction. Omri hides Little Bear from his family and shares this secret only with his best friend, Patrick. Ignoring Omri's warnings, Patrick places a plastic cowboy inside the cupboard and another small being emerges--the cowboy Boone, who's from the 1870s, when the modern world is fast encroaching. The boys will soon discover the many startling consequences of their actions.