William O. Steele (1917–1979)

Chris Brabson is full of hate. He hates the Yankee soldiers who are camping in his beloved Tennessee woods; he hates their snotty Northern ways and their belief that they know what's best for the South; he hates that they've taken all of his family's food to feed their own troops.

And he hates that his own brother has joined the Union side of the war when, to Chris, it is clear that the Confederacy is the side to fight for.

When his hatred proves more powerful than good sense, Chris spies for the Confederates, revealing that a Union wagon train is camped in a valley near his home - and his brother is probably in that train. Caught in the bitter battle at dawn, Chris discovers that in war, nothing is clear-cut - good and bad are equally laid to waste by the horrors of the battlefield.… (more)

Once the big doors are barred, the settlers hiding in the wilderness fort are supposed to be safe from attack.

Sure, the for tis small, food is scarce, and water is hard to come by. But the Chickamauga raiding parties are outside, the welcome faces of friends and neighbors are inside, and everyone is ready to band together against the ferocious Indian warriors until help arrives.

Except that some of the settlers don't trust the Logan boys, whose father fights on the side of the Indians. And they don't trust Chad and his family, who have given protection to the Logans when the rest of the group would have cast them out to die.

As the siege drags on, and hunger and thirst begin to take their toll, that mistrust becomes a fearful hatred that threatens to be the death of them all.… (more)