Just by observing developments within their own small community, Ethan and Kindred could understand the growing tensions among the British, settlers, and natives. It was clear that British officials considered it their duty to retain control of the political and military affairs of the colonies and extract maximum profit from trade, both with the Indians and the white settlers. The established colonists who had good property holdings supported this premise and wanted to live in peace on their farms or in their villages. Their commitment was to a life in America, with an assumed loyalty to the crown but a desire for minimum interference in their own affairs.

The vast majority of natives, British officials, and American settlers had much in common, including a strong desire to live as neighbors and to overcome difficulties peacefully. But there were strong and increasingly angry men with clear goals, and among them violence was preferable to patience and accommodation. There was an insatiable demand for more land from the stream of new settlers who moved south and west from the northern colonies or from Europe, and on this tide of immigrants into the frontier regions was a froth of indolent or unruly riffraff, often incompatible with established neighbors or unwilling to comply with the legal standards of any organized society.

•  •  •

Hannah Clarke stirred, dimly aware that something had disturbed her sleep, and then lay as quietly as possible, not wanting to waken her husband. Now wide awake herself, she listened intently and was then certain that she heard something moving in the yard. This was nothing new to her, or a cause for concern, since their North Carolina cabin and fields were in a small opening of less than forty acres surrounded by woodland and swamp, and deer and black bear were frequent night visitors. But then a light flickering on the oiled paper of the window caused her to sit up and shout, “Elijah!”