reviewsbyerin

Picking up seven years after the events of the previous novel, friends from all over the country come together to throw Stuart Brannon a surprise 40th birthday party. It's a trip down memory lane as many major characters from the series come to visit. But the party comes to a screeching halt when it is crashed by a 12-year-old Indian boy claiming that Stuart Brannon is his father. Knowing the child is the baby who was born in "Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing," Brannon doesn't know why Elizabeth has told her son he's his father, but after years of trying to find Elizabeth after the government has relocated her tribe numerous times, Stuart intends to keep up the ruse until he can see his friend and ask her himself.

Brannon and Littlefoot begin the dusty journey to find Elizabeth in Utah and soon realize they are being followed by an old nemesis from Stuart's years in Colorado. After more than a little danger and a few bouts of misdirection they reach Elizabeth, and Littlefoot goes a little crazy when he discovers that not only is Stuart not his father, he's actually the man who killed his outlaw parent. Elizabeth's weakness from late stage tuberculosis is a major consideration as they attempt to evade the gunfighter still hunting their trail and make their way back to Brannon's Arizona ranch.

Through battles, mistaken identity, the help of friends, and deep sorrow, Brannon and Littlefoot begin forming a bond that brings the past 14 years of Stuart's life full circle. It is in Littlefoot that Brannon begins to see some of the pain of his past redeemed and his lonely days made hopeful. This original ending of the Stuart Brannon series is full of adventure, retrospection, and musings on how God works in the lives of His children.