It seems that the worst possible thing has come to pass; I am beside myself with grief and worry ....

Our beautiful fair-haired daughter, Maizie, and our five-year-old son, Jonah, have been taken by the Head-Splitters, this band of wild Indians who have been terrorizing our encampment for what seems like weeks or months on end.  They have raided several families, killing them at will, and taking all their possessions for their own use.  Well, this time it was our turn.  They came during the night and took our two older children, threatening to kill them if we even tried to fight back.

So we were forced to watch them drag our children away from us to parts unknown; my poor wife, Eliza, and myself are so scared we don't know what to do or how to go about getting Jonah and Maizie back.  We are afraid that the Head-Splitters will kill us (and little Almanzo Charles, who is barely past babyhood) in the process.

I don't know what the Head-Splitters would want with two small children, unless they want to make them one of them and turn them against us when they get older.  Or they will possibly even kill them, taking their scalps or bludgeoning them to death with their knives and tommyhawks ... the possibility is suddenly all too real and much too frightening to think about ....

Just keep us in the Good Lord's prayers; we really could use a miracle here .....

~To be continued!~