Set in the 1800’s-1900’s in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas, this fictionalized story is based on family lore—stories of the mountain people, some descendants of the Cherokee who survived the Trail of Tears; others, mainly Scots-Irish, who inherited their beliefs from their own ancestors. Stories reflecting the rituals for the burial of their dead; the magical power of the many standing stones left behind by the glaciers as they departed eons ago; the mystical properties of the mountains and birds and animals. Following 10-year-old twins, Larkin and Willy, who find themselves embroiled in an end time of slavery and thrust into a Civil War—of which they know nothing but never question for which side they will fight—they take part in the great battles of the South and find themselves in a time of unrest and attacks by roving bands of cut-throat outlaws, the Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers. The story continues on through the Great War of 1917-18 and the impact of the Great Depression. Unforgettable characters—the twins’ Quaker grandpa; America, a minister’s daughter trained to be a spy for the South; Lazarus, head of a black family who become lifelong friends; Samuel and Martha, a life-saving, eccentric, middle-aged Arkansas couple. Through it all, stories of that elusive Panther, who by night roams the hills and hollows. Who appears to those few beings perhaps troubled beyond their comprehension, but whose hearts and souls are open to hear and receive his great knowledge and wisdom. The Panther, whose voice resonates through the hills and echoes through the ages.
