Walk to Hope: in the Time of Joseph Smith (In the Times of the Prophets)

We have to get away," Mama said, her voice right in my ear,"Do as I say, Laurel. So you don?t die." I wrapped her shawl once around James, picked him up and ran as fast as I could. My bare feet slapped at the cold ground. I ran without looking back, straight to the woods.

Volume 1 of the In The Times of the Prophets series

Laurel?s family lives in Missouri in 1838 with other members of the LDS Church, hoping to avoid the persecution that has followed them and their prophet Joseph Smith.

Laurel only wants to play with her friends by the blacksmith?s shop, but her mother has forbidden Laurel from leaving the yard, even though she is almost twelve. Her mother can?t explain why?she just "has a feeling."

Suddenly a sound like thunder startles Laurel out of her daydreaming and horsemen plunge into the clearing around Jacob Haun?s mill. Laurel and her brother run into the woods, and into a series of adventures that prove she is braver than she ever dreamed.