In 1749, red haired blue eyed Thomas Turner left Belfast for South Carolina. The seventeen year old was expected to carve a home and a plantation out of the raw wilderness. The young Scots Irishman would grow up in a hurry. Overcoming his own doubts, pirates, wild animals, Indians, and European soldiers, he gained a foothold there to grow crops and a family. He succeeded in establishing a prosperous plantation, and a thriving community sprang up around it. However, because of the savage “Red Stick” band of the Creek Indians, and battles with British troops and American Tories, Thomas found his home repeatedly threatened by the drum beat of war. At what price would he be able to hold on to his dream in the New World? STEPHEN L. TURNER was born a fifth generation Texan, sixth generation Arkansan, and an eighth generation American. His youth was steeped in the history and culture of his heritage. He graduated from Texas Tech School of Medicine, and has worked as a pediatrician in rural Plainview, Texas since 1984. He is married with two married children. He spends his free time running their panhandle ranch, raising horses and hunting. He enjoys reading and writing historical fiction.