"After Midnight's Rebellion in the Fall of 1152, the following Winter turns out to be a cold and icy season, and the Mouse Guard face a food and supply shortage threatening the lives of many a mouse in the Mouse Territories. Some of the Guard's finest--Saxon, Kenzie, Lieam, and Sadie, with the old grayfur Celanawe by their side--traverse the snow-blanketed Territories acting as diplomats to improve relations between the mouse cities and the Guard, and seeking vital supplies for their headquarters at Lockhaven. But hungry predators, the dangers of ice and snow, and a wrong turn into the haunted depths of the abandoned weasel tunnels of Darkheather place even so intrepid a band of Guardsmice in mortal peril. This is a winter not every Guard may survive."