Late the next afternoon, John, Benjamin and little Benjamin began their trek back to the cabin. The work had been completed sooner than anyone expected, allowing everyone to return to their land and do some work around their own place. Robert Allen, Sarah’s husband and long time friends with the Baker family, was due with several other friends to come over to help begin the start of what would be a well on their property.
            There was light breezy conversation between John and Benjamin as they planned where crops would be planted in the coming weeks. Having great expectations, they believed they would do well enough to possibly expand the cabin and add a little more furniture within so it wasn’t so small and sparse for the family of six. 
               Little Benjamin asked if he could hop off just short of the clearing to use the woods to relieve himself while they went on ahead. John hesitated at first, but realized that Benjamin would be close enough if anything happened that they could come quickly to his aid.
            Throwing one leg over, he rested it on the stilled wagon wheel and proceeded to climb down from the wagon. Waving to his father, he watched as they continued on towards the cabin.
            As John and Benjamin reached the clearing, they realized things weren’t quite as they should be. Benjamin was the first to notice the chicken coop virtually empty of the feathered birds. Calling John’s attention to it, he noticed the pen holding the cow was open, even though the cow was still there. Several of the horses were missing from their confines.
            Fear raced through the minds of both men as they briefly glanced at one another. Anxiety swept through John as he whipped the horses into a frantic gallop the remainder of the distance to the cabin. As they neared, they were horrified to see what appeared to be Margaret lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Several yards away he saw the baby, completely still and quiet on the ground. John’s heart nearly stopped from fright as he brought the wagon to a full stop, jumping off and running madly towards his wife.
            No sooner than he cleared the wagon and was at Margaret’s side, he felt a sharp pain that seemed to pierce him through his very heart and radiate throughout his entire body. Slowly looking up, he saw in the doorway of the cabin an Indian with his bow, empty of an arrow which had been there only moments before. He glanced down at his chest and saw the rough hewn shaft of the arrow sticking out of his flesh before falling to his side and down to the ground next to his beloved wife and their youngest child.
            Benjamin had felt something wasn’t right and pulled his rifle out from behind the driver’s seat moments before John had stopped the wagon. Having the hammer cocked and ready to fire, he saw the first Indian emerge from the house and take aim at John. Unable to save his son in law, Benjamin’s rifle fired with accuracy moments after John was hit, taking down the assailant. Jumping down, he ran around the wagon and took refuge behind the large wooden body in hopes of reloading his weapon before being struck down as well. He knew he didn’t have a chance, but if it meant avenging his family’s deaths, he would do all he could before he could do no more.
            As he heard the angry cries and screams of the Indian’s comrades as they exited the house, his heart raced a hundred miles a minute. Only that morning he and John had warned everyone to watch for the mother bear that might return for its cub. Instead, they were surprised by a rogue band of Indians who had initially slipped into the county some weeks prior. They were now on the Baker land, having arrived while the men were out helping those around them.
            The family was totally blindsided by the unsuspecting danger, and now Benjamin was in a fight for his life. With the exception of little Benjamin just down the dirt path, he was the only one left alive out of the seven that made the journey from Virginia to where they were now. He prayed that his namesake heard the commotion and was running for cover deep in the woods until it was safe to come out.
            The rifle finally reloaded, Benjamin readied himself to stand and take aim at another target that was destroying the last vestiges of what was left of his family. Standing tall, he took aim towards the door but there was no one there. He quickly turned from side to side, looking to find his opposition, only to be sent sideways and then pitch forward from an unseen force. Before Benjamin knew what sent him reeling, he lay dead on the ground at the foot of a back wagon wheel. An Indian’s tomahawk ended his life quickly.
            In the brush off in the distance, Benjamin crouched quietly, tears streaming down his face. He watched as his father and grandfather were massacred before his eyes. He had heard the screams of the Indians as his father went down first. He could only imagine what his mother, brothers, and sister had endured before they arrived back home. He had no idea what he was going to do, or where he would go. His family now gone and no living family to turn to, Benjamin feared the future.
            Realizing the danger of moving from where he was, he understood that to try and escape risked exposing that someone was left alive who could tell of what happened. It was better to stay and wait until it was safe for him to move elsewhere.
            He watched as the few remaining Indians scoured around the land for any of the family’s personal belongings they might want. They draped the body of their slain comrade onto the back of his horse as they mounted their own horses and took the trail leading off the property that John, Benjamin, and little Benjamin had just travelled down.
            As they neared the area where thirteen year old little Benjamin was hidden, he held his breath, praying not to be discovered. A slight shift in his weight from one foot to the next caused a small twig to ever so gently snap. He froze once again, fear coursing deep through his veins as he prayed he hadn’t given himself away. The Indians slowed their horses to a near stop as they listened intently to their surroundings, not sure of what was out there waiting for them or what they were listening for.
            Slowly gazing through the trees and bushes, they scarcely moved which enabled them to better hear the forest that surrounded them. Afraid to take a breath, Benjamin froze where he was, closed his eyes, and prayed he would become invisible for however long it took them to go away and leave him alone.