Molly lived on an island far away from the mainland. She was an orphan and there was no one to care for her. Sent to live in a house filled with boys she was pressed into the role of cook and caretaker. Her life became that of a servant.
When an unfortunate incident took place that threatened to scar her forever, she was sent to live with an angered and bitter veteran of the Civil War. Living the life of a recluse and with battle scars of his own, he keeps his past hidden from all. Hidden until Molly comes to stay.

Hock snuck off in the dark of night to join the Union Army. He was too young to be part of the fighting force but now, taller than most, he easily joined their ranks. Wounded in the battle at Petersburg he was captured and sent to a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp – a camp so horrid, it is still written of today.
As one more of Andersonville’s nameless inmates, he was given a number. Identified as “Unknown 9586,” he was thrown on the death cart and hauled out as one of the dead. “Unknown 9586,” did not rest in peace.

It was late in the 1800s when a ferocious nor’easter traveled up the New England coast. It forced a three-masted schooner up on the rocks. It was within sight of the Hendrick’s Head Lighthouse. History says there were no survivors. However, a trunk was found that had been washed ashore. It held a most unusual and curious surprise.
Through the pages of Abigail’s diary, a tale is told of survival and strength as she comes to terms with the unfortunate event that condemned her to the life of a recluse.

Katy was 16 when the hard times came. Her father disappeared in the night and her mother left her with a tiny baby sister. She was suddenly thrust into the role of caretaker. It was a responsibility she didn’t want. The farming life was not for her and now she had to find a way to survive and to keep her younger brothers from starving.

It had been foolish to stay but now there was no choice. It was anyone’s guess what the outcome would be. Nothing was as it should be. Oddly, the Confederate troops were pouring in from the north and Union troops were marching in from the south. They arrived in droves. The town was not prepared for what happened during the early days of the summer, 1863.

Olivia lived a quiet and protected life tucked away on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was far from the great war that had been raging between the North and the South. She had little interest in the who and the why of it all, and wasn’t even sure where her sympathies lay. Then, without warning, the conflict surrounded her. At 16, she was ill prepared for the responsibilities that were thrust on her.

Emily at 15 is bored and annoyed with just about everything and everybody. Tired of her chores and irritated by the endless care of three younger sisters, she would like to have a life of her own. Her parents are absent; her Father is off fighting a war she doesn’t understand and her Mother has left for Pennsylvania. As the eldest of the four sisters, she must take responsibility for her home and family.

“My being for ever banished from your sight…”
Who was this “…undutiful and Disobedient Child” who in 1756 penned a letter to her father in England? What had she done to so offend him? Why, as a well educated young girl, had she become an indentured servant? Why was she alone?
In her letter, she pleads with her father to forgive her and to at least send her a bit of clothing.