The novel’s overarching plot is based on real events from the 1920s–1930s. It was created from accounts of longtime residents of the southern districts of Krasnoyarsk Krai—hunters, gold seekers, Old Believers, and inhabitants of remote taiga villages and hunting lodges. The pursuit of sable, small-scale gold добыча, secrets and unexpected discoveries, mysterious disappearances of taiga people form the fabric of this captivating work. Reading it, the reader will learn how long a woman’s waiting for her beloved man can be; who killed the hunters returning from the taiga because of fur; what the infighting among prospectors of secret gold mines was like; and where the golden statue of Buddha has been located ever since it disappeared into the mountains from the days of free nomads?.