Summary

Chapter 1 opens in the state of Virginia in 1864. A group of bandits awakes one morning in their makeshift camp. The group’s leader is referred to only as the Colonel. A man named Sweeney and a teenage boy named Callum are also part of the group. Callum bears a high-caliber French dueling pistol; they had obtained it while raiding the house of a Union sympathizer. As the bandits ride their horses, the narration exposits upon the Colonel’s wide infamy as a fairly high-profile criminal. The bandits come to a large house, and Callum goes inside to scout for occupants. He finds only a teenage girl. Oldham, one of the bandits, enters and tries to rape the girl. Callum, defending the girl, stabs Oldham, who manages to knock out Callum. Callum awakes days later, far from the house. Swinney informs him that Oldham has...