Calico Captive

Early one morning in the year 1754 the stillness of Charlestown, New Hampshire, was shattered by shrill war whoops and the terror of an Indian raid. Young Miriam Willard, on a day that had promised new happiness, found herself instead a captive on a forest trail, caught up in the ebb and flow of the French and Indian War.

It was a harrowing march north. Miriam could only force herself to the next stopping place, the next small portion of food, the next icy stream to be crossed. What awaited her at the end of the trail—besides an Indian gauntlet and a life of slavery?