This sequel is what prompted me to read Weasel. Ezra had gone to find his deceased wife's family; they had been a part of the Shawnee migration to the West (The Trail of Tears). That tale is not told in the story, but a visiting tinker shows Nathan and his family a flyer which appears to proclaim Ezra a wild "White Indian" with a travelling freak show. Astounded by this revelation, Nathan decides to travel with the Tinker to Pennsylvania in the hope of finding Ezra and bringing him back home. He doesn't like the Tinker, but it is the only way his pa will let him go after Ezra. Nathan is confronted with the problem of trusting through the whole trip. Who to trust, when to not trust. He learns that there are varying degrees of evil behavior and that people who are truly horrible can still not be as bad as Weasel was. Other people who are not so bad can still do some really bad things, and you can like them anyway.

It is sad to see Ezra in the shape he is in. He has to grieve over the situation with his wife's family before he even begins to respond to Nathan's attempts to reach him. Nathan on the other hand is fleshed out a bit more in the sequel. He grows much through his travels and predicaments. The characters in the travelling show add some spice to the story and some humor with their conspiring in Ezra's escape.

This story is a little longer than the previous, about the same in reading level and probably a little more adventurous and anticipatory.

related-travels, adventures, rescues, freak shows, frontier and pioneer life
RL=4th-8th