Three high-spirited boys and a headstrong girl grow up together in the idyllic, hilled countryside of southern Illinois during the 1850’s, sharing childhoods filled with friendship, adventure, loving families and the golden sunshine that rests ... Read more

Three high-spirited boys and a headstrong girl grow up together in the idyllic, hilled countryside of southern Illinois during the 1850’s, sharing childhoods filled with friendship, adventure, loving families and the golden sunshine that rests gently on the young. But with adulthood comes the 1860’s, a time of cannons and minié balls and numbing tragedy.It’s the tragic era of the Civil War, followed by the savage fighting against the Indians of the American west, two unforgiving wars in which these young people become embroiled. Their personal relationships come to mirror the turmoil roiling their country, where love and friendship is so easily lost, and a final redemption can only be attained through heart-rending sacrifice. Less