Book excerpt: Jedediah “Jedd” Colter is a man with big dreams that go beyond the mountains of North Carolina. When he hears of a band of travelers bound for the gold fields of California, Jedd uses his hunting skills to convince the party’s organizers to hire him as a guard. The Sadler brothers promise him a cut of the fortune mining brings them, but their real plan is to hit pay dirt by becoming merchants and cheat Jedd out of his earnings. While the journey is difficult and its leaders incompetent, Jedd’s natural skills enable him to keep the peace and save them all from disaster. But when Jedd is injured along the way, the Sadlers inform him that his services are no longer needed and head west without him. After Jedd recovers he only has one thing on his mind—making it to California on his own—and getting even with those that did him wrong…