Finalist: ACFW Kidlit contest and American Writing Awards
Gunshots leave Jonathan and his young sister orphaned, with only grief and a promise of revenge to carry them forward. Two years later, a broken spur hidden in their cabin reopens the mystery. With no help from the sheriff and danger growing closer, Jonathan sets out alone—determined to find his parents’ killers, no matter the cost.
Finalist: ACFW Kidlit contest and American Writing Awards
Shots ring out. Three riders hightail it out of sight as 11-year-old Jonathan and his 9-year-old sister Abigail hide near the barn. With their parents brutally murdered in 1910, the children carry the scars of the loss. Abigail stops speaking to anyone but her brother, Jonathan, seeks revenge.
Two years later while searching the cabin, the children find a shiny object embedded in the floorboards. It’s a rowel broken off a spur. This new evidence rekindles Jonathan’s vow to find the killers. Jonathan studies strangers in town for a broken spur. Friends and family, including Abigail, insist he end the search. They reason murderers wouldn’t stay nearby nor return years later.
But Jonathan refuses to give up. With the investigative savvy of their visiting aunt, the search is on. Reopening the case may put the siblings’ lives in danger, but Jonathan remains resolute to find his parents’ killers. Lacking the sheriff’s support, he ventures out on his own, knowing that if the murderers discover he saw them, his life may end before he completes his vow for revenge.
