Book excerpt: No one thought that the Second Street boarding house would be destroyed by arsonists. Things have gotten ugly in Blaineton, New Jersey. It is in the middle of the Civil War and the abolitionist sympathies of the people in Maggie's house have made them a target for Copperhead forces. When the violence threatens to escalate, Maggie's husband Eli decides to move everyone to his family's old home, where his two sisters are aiding fugitive slaves. But this means relocating to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Maggie and her family risk the move, hoping to find some badly-needed peace of mind and heart. But that may not be possible with newspaperman Eli and reporter/photographer Chester Carson off covering the war and with Edgar and Patrick in the army. While Maggie and the remaining members of her family struggle to start anew in a strange place, they begin to hear rumors. Will Confederate troops march into Pennsylvania? And if so, what will happen?