FIGHTING DEVIL’S BACKBONE
YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION SERIES
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CHAPTER 1, THE SHADOW OF E. Z.’S FEAR
FIGHTING DEVIL’S BACKBONE
Book 1: The Shadow of E. Z.’s Fear
“Ye’ve been chosen, my young friend, and thars nothin’ ye can do about it now.”
Bandit to E. Z.
“‘The Devil’s Backbone,’…That’s where this boat’s a’takin you, ‘The Devil’s Backbone.’ It will fight you. And no one will ever hear from you again!.”
Wild-eyed Boatman to E. Z.
“Son, you can’t believe all those stories people tell. Dead men don’t ride horses from one town to the next—even on the Natchez Trace.”
Franklin Sheriff to E. Z.
“Somebody is following us!” ...
“Somebody? I know whose body is following us!” ...
“The bandit is coming after us for the map!”
Book 2: E. Z. and the Chikasha Warrior
“You and I are alike. —-
I like danger.
I think you do too.”
The Bandit to E. Z.
Book 3: E. Z. in the Den of Thieves
“This road tests a man, Ezekiel. It tempts him with gold and power. Then, when he gives in, it dangles his life before him and asks him what he will do to keep it. That is when a man knows what he is made of. You will see.”
The Bandit to E. Z.
The Idea Behind the Fighting Devil’s Backbone Series
History is the story of people—their hopes, their fears, and their struggles. History not only tells us what came before our time and how the things today came to be, it tells us how people react when faced with opportunities and challenges. And human nature does not change.
The historic Natchez Trace was one of the few trails or roads through a wilderness. On any given day, Indian leaders, warriors, future U. S. presidents, soldiers, bandits, and ordinary people of all races and backgrounds came into contact on the road. And the confines of its narrow, tree-lined walls forced them to interact and compete for position.
The rigorous journey was a crucible that tested them. The clever and the strong survived. The talented learned leadership.
The Fighting Devil’s Backbone series draws on numerous stories about those travelers: strong widowed women who brought their young children West to search for opportunity; innocents who did now know the cost or dangers; swindlers and bandits who preyed on the unsuspecting; and future leaders forced to prove their courage.
And it tells the stories of Southeastern Indians caught in the vice of national and international powers fighting to control the continent as they tried to adapt to survive.
Those stories are told through the fictional characters of Ezekiel Perkins (“E. Z.” to his friends), his mother Sarah, and his brother David. In reality, the fictional characters help tell the stories of real-life Nancy Benton, Nancy Rutherford, Andrew Jackson Edmonson, and others mentioned in old accounts but whose names have been lost to time.
A child transported back to the Natchez Trace of the early 1800’s would find that world as foreign as one of the imaginary worlds created by a modern-day fantasy author. But the Natchez Trace was a mysterious world that existed.
The series will help the reader understand the challenges of that historic world through the eyes of the characters. The goal is that it will help provide an appreciation for how far we have come and for the people who helped us arrive at this point. Maybe the series will also help us discover something about ourselves.