The Winter of Pleasure — Ken Foster

The Adventures of Tom Malley, Volume II: The Winter of Pleasure In Ken Foster's second book about The Adventures of Tom Malley series, the skilled frontiersman finds himself facing another long winter alone and decides to make his winter camp on a nice hillside. Before scouting the area, he is cooking his first meal at the new camp site when he is interrupted by an old woman that's out scrounging for rabbit. Somehow he had managed to select a campsite that was just over the hill from a family who had become lost when their wagon had broken down in the wilderness several years earlier. They hadn't seen any white men in that time and the Indians frightened them when they saw them. After meeting the family of gypsies from the old country, it is agreed he will stay the winter and even teach the lost family how to live in the mountains while providing them with venison. While scouting the area one day, Tom finds an Indian trail. On his way back, he startles a very young brave that is watching the family. The brave runs away leaving his horse and bow behind and Tom must take the brave's horse and bow to the village so there isn't any misunderstanding. While there, he arranges for the family to come and meet the village as well as perform for them. The family is well received and given many gifts for coming to entertaining the village. They are even invited back in the spring. Tom works hard and gets a nice home built before the winter gets too hard. He must enlist the family to help finish it and it is completed before they are snowed in. The family discovers they have unknown talents with making building materials while making bricks for the chimney. He tries to give the cabin to the family, but is turned down as the old couple wants him to do them a big favor but also want him to help make their shack winter proof. The favor is what brings him the winter of pleasure. In early spring, he goes to scout the area looking for signs of winter leaving when he finds himself right in the middle of an Indian war. Now, Tom must use all his skills to get the family out of the wilderness before the warring tribe catches them. They travel many days through deep snow, spending freezing nights with late winter storms without a fire to keep warm. The exhausted group finally make it to a town that's already been attacked by Indians. There they find their first hot meal and shelter from the weather. Tom helps the family get established and makes certain the men of the town understand how they are to be treated. When the army arrives, he discovers they have captured the wrong Indian and proves his innocence while catching the real scalp hunter. Then he recruits the man he just rescued and together they lead the army into a position so they can capture the tribe that started the war. With the war averted, they take the army to the Indian camp that was wiped out to show the toll the war had caused. This is where the Indian leaves to go find his family and Tom leaves to continue his travels. Eventually he makes it to Atlanta then several more large cities along the eastern coast, stopping in each to deposit some of the gold and lightening his burden while keeping his trail impossible to follow.