Watcher in the Piney Woods

This story takes place in the last few days of the Civil War and the central character is Cassie, a twelve-year-old girl living in Virginia. Her father is off to war and her brother has supposedly been killed in the war.

She also finds a Confederate Army deserter staying nearby and he threatens her. She also finds a Union army person who escaped from a nearby prison and is also basically now a deserter.

Someone is also stealing things from around the farmhouse and Cassie isn't sure exactly who it is. She and her other brother act like they are making friends with the union soldier but they plan to turn him over to Confederate forces. Before that can happen, though, more strange things happen and they end up needing the union soldier to help them track down a person who they think is the original Confederate deserter.

Only it isn't. The person they find complicates matters for them particularly, and Cassie is forced to reexamine some of her personal beliefs. As always, there is also a historical section added to help put events into proper perspective.

An interesting and thought-provoking story.

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