Grandmother dances for four days around a fire, praying to Itilauichi for help as de Soto's forces threaten the people.

Shakbatina offers to be executed in place of her daughter Anoleta, accused of murdering Red Shoes' other wife.

Shakbatina sings to Itilauichi and is executed, then is greeted by Big Mother Porcupine and led to the spirit world.

Auda Billy has a vision of Shell Shakers burning a warrior around a fire, stirring a memory older than herself.

Auda is found standing over Redford McAlester's dead body and is arrested for his murder.

Susan Billy confesses to killing Redford McAlester after her daughter Auda is taken into custody.

Isaac takes Hoppy and Nick to meet Divine Sarah, who reveals that Red Shoes' spirit has returned in Redford McAlester.

Auda tells Gore Battiste that Redford raped her and reveals he was laundering money for the mafia and funding the IRA.

Koi Chitto performs the bone-picking ceremony for Shakbatina, tearing her skull from her bones to release her spirit.

Shakbatina appears to Carl Tonica outside the casino and lures him to his death under an eighteen-wheeler.

Delores receives a vision of Nanih Waiya and declares that Redford's body must be buried near the sacred mound.

Anoleta and Haya track Red Shoes to a campfire and Haya pushes him into the flames, ending his reign of betrayal.

Isaac and Delores drive Redford's body to Mississippi, where Oklahoma and Mississippi Choctaw reunite at Nanih Waiya.

Divine Sarah presents court evidence that Hector D'Amato killed Redford, and the judge throws out Auda's confession.

Auda looks in the mirror after receiving her ancestors' sacred objects and sees a radiant, unfamiliar woman's face.

Shell Shaker opens in the 18th century as Shakbatina, a Choctaw peacemaker, sacrifices herself to save her daughter Anoleta and preserve peace between warring tribes. Centuries later, Auda Billy, Shakbatina's descendant, confronts the same cycle of corruption when Choctaw Chief Redford McAlester rapes her and she is found standing over his dead body. As Auda and her family fight the murder charges, her Uncle Isaac uncovers the spiritual truth: Redford is the reincarnation of the corrupt warrior Red Shoes, and this ancient conflict must be resolved for the Choctaw people to heal. The spirit of Shakbatina reaches into the present, helping to expose Redford's mafia ties and lure his corrupt ally Carl Tonica to his death. The two timelines converge at Nanih Waiya, the sacred Choctaw origin mound in Mississippi, where Redford's body is interred by both the Oklahoma and Mississippi Choctaw, reuniting a people divided for generations. Auda ultimately walks free, receives her ancestors' sacred objects, and sees a new face in the mirror — a symbol of a future no longer bound by Red Shoes' curse.

The parallel stories of sacrifice, betrayal, and Choctaw renewal across two centuries.

Tuscalusa gives Grandmother a tiny black stone representing his spirit before leading his men into de Soto's trap.

De Soto's forces overwhelm Tuscalusa's warriors and cut off the heads and hands of the slain men as trophies.

Grandmother and the surviving women transform into birds and fly to a new homeland, where they build seven original Choctaw towns.

Tema Billy hears a bodiless voice calling her a mankiller in Choctaw during her stage performance in Dallas.

Tema's son Hoppy delivers a fax about Redford's death and the family's arrests, prompting Tema to leave for Oklahoma.

Adair Billy hears three gunshots and the sound of a body being moved before receiving the fax about Redford's murder.

Adair calls Gore Battiste to defend Auda and Susan, then toasts her sister for killing Redford.

A dental hygienist secretly injects Auda with a lethal dose of insulin, causing her to fall into a coma.

Vic D'Amato reveals to Carl Tonica that he ordered the hygienist to kill Auda before Carl finds the stolen money.

Delores recalls how she gave up her Hollywood career to revive traditional Choctaw funeral rites and death songs.

Father Renoir abandons his priesthood, gives his memoirs to a soldier, and departs with Neshoba and the children including Anoleta's daughter Chunkashbili.

Koi Chitto charges across the battlefield screaming in rage and is killed by cannon fire as the warriors advance.

Auda and Redford travel together in a liminal dream space as Redford confesses he murdered his Red Fox wife to protect Anoleta.

Adair and Gore meet Redford's IRA contact James Joyce at a New York bar and recover copies of the documents proving Redford's corruption.

Susan divides Shakbatina's porcupine sash and Grandmother's turtle shells among Auda, Adair, and Tema as her inheritance to them.

Shell Shaker's secondary storyline begins with the founding of the Choctaw people, tracing the moment Grandmother and the women transform into birds and fly to a new homeland after de Soto's forces slaughter their men. In the 20th century, Auda's sisters Tema and Adair each receive their own warnings that the world has shifted — Tema hears a ghostly voice calling her a mankiller mid-performance, while Adair hears gunshots before news of Redford's death reaches her. The mafia's grip on events tightens through Vic D'Amato's plot to poison Auda via a dental hygienist, and the bone-picker Delores carries the weight of Choctaw tradition as she prepares to handle Redford's final rites. In the 18th-century strand, Father Renoir abandons his priesthood for Shakbatina's daughter Neshoba and takes Anoleta's child Chunkashbili under his care — an act that gives the Billy family their name. The pool closes with Adair recovering the proof of Redford's crimes from his IRA contact and Susan returning Shakbatina's porcupine sash to her daughters, completing the circle of inheritance.

The supporting cast and hidden machinery behind the novel's two centuries of conflict.

Itilauichi takes pity on Grandmother after four days of dancing and promises to answer her prayers when she calls.

Redford McAlester rapes Auda for refusing to wear the dress he bought her, and she recognizes him as an Osano feeding on his own people.

Isaac pretends to be senile at tribal headquarters when acting chief Carl Tonica announces the Billy family has been de-tribed.

Susan publicly tells Auda at a feast to end her relationship with Redford McAlester, calling him an Osano and fracturing their relationship for years.

Auda dreams of making love with Red Shoes, who cannot promise her the warrior life she imagined, and she wakes in tears.

Koi Chitto receives a warning from a porcupine spirit at his campfire and dreams that his daughter is dead, realizing he must return home immediately.

While searching for her pet rabbit, Auda has a vision that finally reveals Shakbatina as her direct ancestor.

Anoleta allows Red Shoes to believe she welcomes his return while secretly planning to kill him.

Anoleta argues with the Blackrobe priests, declaring that the Choctaw are life everlasting and have no need of Christian salvation.

Isaac and Delores agree to marry before setting out for Mississippi, reuniting after nearly fifty years of separation.

Red Shoes sees Shakbatina's spirit at a campfire warning him of his fate and refuses her offer to sacrifice himself for his people.

Nitakechi discovers that his wife Mantema was captured and murdered by Red Shoes' men at Pacana, steeling him for battle.

Tema knocks Hector D'Amato down the stairs as a black panther appears out of nowhere and attacks him, saving Auda's life.

Auda agrees to return and stand trial after Isaac and Delores volunteer to remain in the spirit world to guard Redford's spirit.

Shakbatina reveals in her final narration that she slipped her hands in front of Auda's to fire the shot that killed Redford.

The novel's deepest turning points begin with Itilauichi's promise to answer Grandmother's prayers and continue through Redford's rape of Auda, the act that finally forces her to recognize him as an Osano preying on his own people. A chain of private revelations follows — Auda learns through a vision that Shakbatina is her direct ancestor, Anoleta secretly decides to kill Red Shoes while pretending to welcome him, and Red Shoes himself sees Shakbatina's spirit but arrogantly refuses to sacrifice himself as she once did. On the personal level, Susan's long-ago public warning about Redford, which shattered her relationship with Auda, is revealed as one of the story's earliest missed chances for intervention. The threads converge as Isaac and Delores finally reconcile and marry before volunteering to enter the spirit world alongside Redford — the act of love and sacrifice that mirrors Shakbatina's own. The pool closes with Shakbatina's stunning final revelation: it was her hands guiding Auda's that fired the fatal shot, making the killing a communal act across centuries.

The key discoveries, secret decisions, and spiritual shifts that steer both timelines toward resolution.