1870. The war may be over, but its consequences are not. Mary Cummings can’t raise cotton without her ‘servant’s, but she and her half-sister Sally scrape by with chickens, eggs, and vegetables. Rebuilding the South requires Northern capital and expertise. Ex-officers from Sherman’s vandal hoards are in demand because they know the land and have the organizational skill to run the railroads. A loose shoe strands one at the Cummings strangely familiar farm.
