Bleeding Kansas

When they came for him, he knew what he had to do...run!

Quaker farm-boy James Deeter escapes west ahead of Union Army recruiters, "aiming to look manly aboard my Appaloosa horse, long hair flying free from under a wide-brimmed, rawhide sombrero, a couple of six-shooters on my hips and a plains rifle dangling from a brass-tacked saddle."

Instead, Deeter lands smack in the middle of the bloody guerilla war along the Kansas-Missouri border, an even greater affront to human decency than the Civil War itself, and a shock to Deeter's pacifist upbringing.

To save his life, Deeter rides with rebel leaders William Quantrill, "Bloody Bill" Anderson, and the teen-aged James and Younger brothers.

To save his soul, he tries not to hurt anybody...

Which works for about a minute.

Can Deeter reconcile his peace-loving faith with his participation in some of the most violent episodes in American history?

Can he even survive?

His horse doesn't think so.