Ella sat on the couch with her young niece, Rebecca, watching the poker game with disbelief. They were both shamefully naked and felt completely vulnerable. The men were playing 5-card stud with them as prizes. An outcome like this had never entered her mind when they began their trip west from Philadelphia. The wagon train had been an experience, and then the stagecoach...! She shuddered when she recalled the memory. The...

The door to the room suddenly burst open and two large black men burst in, Thomas and Samuel, who were two of the freed former slaves, and in an excited state said, “Mister Jake just rode in wounded and said the soldiers are everywhere and have some of our boys boxed in!” The room erupted into chaos with Jeb and Seth cursing and grabbing clothes and boots from the floor and running out the door with Carmen and Maria doing...