Why did Pa have to die? What Pa was involved in had been handed down from generation to generation. The Hills and the Evans had fought over land and squabbled over money for years - taking each other to court, putting up unseen boundaries on land to keep each other out. Mary Hill didnt understand everything about the feud. She knew that Uncle Jesse was shot and killed two years ago, but was really too young to grasp what had happened. So young, and so familiar with sorrow, Mary struggles to keep her family together in the midst of a bitter and violent feud. Just fifteen years old, she is thrust into the role of mother to her twelve siblings, fearful that, with the coming of each new day, a new tragedy will strike. By escaping Garrard County, Mary may be able to save her family from further bloodshed, but can she get them all out in time?