Wilderness of Spring

In the bitter winter of 1704, a fourteen‑year‑old boy named Ben Cory watches snow pile against the wooden palisade of Deerfield, a remote New England settlement perched on the edge of a wilderness that feels both threatening and mysterious. The cold, the crackle of the hearth, and the whispered stories of “the Others”—the French, the Native peoples, and the ever‑present specter of war— shape his restless imagination, leaving him to wonder where his own identity ends and the vast, unsettled world begins.

At home, Ben’s father reads a letter from the outspoken great‑uncle John Kenny, a former captive who now questions the endless feuds of faith and nation. Around the fire, his mother works quietly, stitching while the conversation drifts from theology to the possibility of a future free from endless conflict. As the snow deepens and rumors of French attack grow louder, Ben feels the pull of duty, fear, and a yearning for something beyond the walls that protect his village.