"Former Union Lieutenant Colonel Elijah McCain wants nothing more than to bring his stepsons home, just as he promised their mother on her deathbed. But it turns out finding rebellious young Union Army deserters is harder than McCain imagined. After chasing the boys across the Wild West and losing them to a clipper ship, he soon discovers that they escaped to Monterey, California. When Eli finally catches up with his sons, he comes up with a plan when he sees the local ranchos full of horses: to buy 500-800 horses and drive them north to General Sheridan in Missouri. If he plays his cards right, a payday large enough to get him and his sons home will be at the ready. He only has to survive twelve hundred miles of wilderness, as well as restless and violent natives who are looking to run everyone from their lands. Imminent danger has never scared McCain from his mission, and he won't let the potential of losing his scalp deter him this time. So he and his sons and their team set out to do what no one has done before."--