Drums of the Dark Forest

Description

Drums of the Dark Forest by Ed Stowers: The Allegheny Mountains are a dangerous place for whites in the summer of 1763. Trying to escape an Indian uprising under the Ottawa chief Pontiac| solitary hunter Zebediah Parker heads south through the dense forests of western Pennsylvania. Pursued by hostile warriors| he hopes to find safety and rest at Fort Ligonier. But stumbling across a massacre at a destroyed settler’s cabin| Parker realizes that a roving war party has captured a young woman and small boy. Rather than leave them to their fate| he decides to follow and rescue them from their savage captors. After rescuing the beautiful Sarah Colter and her young brother Joshua| Parker flees south taking them to Fort Ligonier| only to find the fort surrounded and under siege by hostile Delaware and Shawnee war parties. Soon| the beleaguered post commander must call upon Parker to use his woodland skills to sneak past the Indians besieging the fort and obtain relief from Fort Bedford to the east. Parker quickly reaches Fort Bedford and brings help in the form of an army under the command of the dedicated English officer| Colonel Bouquet. Parker is reunited with Sarah and Josh at Fort Ligonier| and Bouquet’s army manages to chase the Indians away. But soon Parker must leave once again to act as a scout for Bouquet’s army as it presses to relieve the besieged Fort Pitt at the forks of the Ohio and Monongahela rivers. Fighting past an Indian ambush at Bushy Run| Bouquet’s army relieves the besieged Fort Pitt as Pontiac’s War plays itself out. The uprising seems to be over| and Parker soon heads back to Fort Ligonier. But on his way Parker is captured by his mortal enemies| the Delaware| who strip him and march him northwest into the Ohio country as a condemned man| doomed to be burned at the stake. Trapped and alone among his lifelong enemies| Parker must endure the abuse and torture of hostile warriors| run countless gauntlets at Indian villages| and find a way to settle a score with the Delaware warrior who killed his parents. If he survives| he must then find his way back to Fort Ligonier through the dark and untamed forests of the western Pennsylvania frontier| hoping the woman he loves will be waiting.