A Window To The World

A twig snapped underfoot and the shadowy form of an owl flew past on silent wings. Close by, so close it raised the hair on my scalp, something barked. I whipped around, visions of slave-hunting dogs leaped at us from the brush. “What was that!”“A fox, Miss.”“Oh.” I knew the bark of a fox. I’d heard it before. Just not on a dark night when I was running through the woods with a fugitive slave.Annie Duncan’s pa disappears on his way to the California gold fields and is presumed dead. A widower begins courting Ma. Annie and her brothers find little to like about the man, why he even believed in slavery! When a fugitive slave arrives on the Duncan farm, the family conspires to hide him, not only from the slave-catchers, but also from Ma’s soon-to-be husband.