Prequel to the Young Frontiersman Series

In October 1759, as the French and Indian War wanes, Ranger brothers Frederick and Edward Locke stumble upon an ambush and an abduction along the new Crown Point Military Road in the heart of the contested Green Mountains. Within hours, they are in pursuit of a spirited young woman in a man’s attire taken for ransom by villains carrying French pay led by the renegade Reynard the Fox. Elizabeth rescues herself and finds refuge with a band of Abenaki. The Locke brothers persuade the Abenaki sagamore and his war chief to lead a punitive raid on the highwaymen. Afterward, Elizabeth commissions Frederick to retrieve a stolen land grant and the injured Edward to escort her safely to the Fort at Number 4 on the New Hampshire side of the Connecticut River. The brothers each embark on his mission in company with an Abenaki—Frederick west with the scout Joseph Susapp and Edward east with Joseph’s resourceful wife Mali. As eyewitnesses, they relate the facts of the tragic attack on the Abenaki mission conducted by the famed Major Robert Rogers. In Albany, bustling with British troops and scalawags, Frederick not only locates the stolen grant but also a demure pickpocket in a scarlet cloak who assists him in stealing it back. Frederick flees with Martha and teaches her how to use a pistol. Edward, who dreams of apple orchards, meets his match in the determined Elizabeth.

A stand-alone story, Resolved serves as a prequel to The Young Frontiersman series.