In the third year of the American Revolution, Tim Euston (17) has unknowingly moved himself and his sister Sadie (15) in with a family of traitors and killers.

November, 1777. Upstate New York. Tim is still dreaming of the day when he’ll achieve distinction in the fight for liberty, but for now, he needs a place where he can sit out the winter while continuing his military self-education. Dorothy, matriarch to a prosperous family of farmers, wants to enjoy listening to Tim and Sadie sing, and play their violins. Denny, Dorothy’s youngest, shares Tim’s desire to make a name for himself in the army, but may have tried too hard to profit from wartime shortages. His brother Ozzy is too interested in Sadie for Tim’s liking.

But Ozzy’s infatuation can’t compare with the ardor that ignited in the heart of Tim when he met the petite Alice Surrey. And this lovely young creature was just as captivated by Tim, in the eyes of those who watched them carry on. And the watchers included the brother called Lanny, Alice’s hot-tempered fiancé. The situation might have settled had Tim not been the first to discover the wounded body of Lanny in a dense thicket of brush when they were all out on a deer hunt.

Who attacked him? Does a zealot believe rumors that Lanny spies for the British? Does a greedy sibling want to eliminate an heir? Does a slave have reason to despise Lanny for his cruelty? Or was the attacker Tim Euston, the newcomer who covets his wife-to-be?