Aaron thought with some satisfaction about his secret, at least from white friends: that he had taken a wife in a village near Newota’s, and she had borne him a second child. Although he spent only a few days there at a time, he had adopted many of the Indians’ customs when he was among them, and his generosity had made him a favorite among them. He had also known Big Elk, whose village was a full day’s journey to the west. He knew of the big Indian’s hatred of the white settlers and his criminal habits, but despised him most because of his brutality toward his own family and those around him. It was Aaron who had located the trader who’d led them to the successful raid against Big Elk and the killing of his traveling party.

Except for his wife and especially his Indian family, Aaron Hart had never had any intimate relationships, and now he found great pleasure in helping to form and train this motley group of recruits as members of his own militia platoon. It was like a new life for him, and he contemplated how he could best impress the men—not just in putting up a fence, caring for packhorses, or trading goods, but also in such things as marshaling a force rapidly, the use of secret signals, and how to improve accuracy with his gun and the speed with which he could reload it. Without telling anyone about it, he practiced in the woods behind his house and was glad that he could afford a good rifle and a plentiful supply of powder and balls. As Elijah put more responsibilities on him even during working days, he felt a pang of guilt when he walked by the barn and horse stalls behind his cabin and noticed that they were not as clean or meticulously maintained as he had always kept them.

Elijah Clarke had become something of a hero throughout north Georgia after the raid on Big Elk’s camp, as accounts of the military success were repeated and exaggerated, but Aaron and the others all understood that no one was to mention the final slaying and scalping of the innocents. It was only after that military operation that the men had decided to stay in close touch with one another, and the group was slowly developing into a close-knit militia force, preparing themselves for another fight with the Indians when it might become necessary. They enjoyed something of a conspiratorial alliance as Elijah called them together every week or so to share ideas on the best weapons to carry and ways to improve on the tactics they had used in the raid.