With the events of the past year freshly engraved in his mind, Jacob Murray lies in wait, just a stone's throw from a French outpost in the midst of the western Pennsylvania wilderness. Having teamed up with the two young men who helped his wife escape her Huron captors, he waits for any sign of Maggie or the French merchant who purchased her. A straightforward plan for ambush soon goes awry and Jacob and Joshua are separated from Maggie and One-Ear; the latter pair heads towards Canada, the former for Fort Duquesne. While Maggie's efforts to escape and avoid French captivity lead to unexpected encounters with the native tribes of New York and Canada, including the great Ottawa leader Pontiac, Jacob himself is taken captive by the French. With Joshua's help, he is able to escape, but life as a deserter is very dangerous, especially when the British army is amassing nearby under the watchful eye of Major General Edward Braddock. Jacob and Maggie Murray long for their peaceful life on the homestead in Pennsylvania, but with two great countries and their native allies battling over the Ohio Valley, their wishes must remain ungranted...at least for now."

Coming off the disaster on the Monongahela, Jacob Murray and his young friend Joshua return to Fort Cumberland under the command of George Washington. The defeated British army soon withdraws further east, leaving the frontier virtually undefended. With the frontier left unprotected, Delaware raiding parties begin striking the settlers in an effort to clear their lands of the English. Jacob and Joshua lead a company of militia deep into the French-held Pennsylvania frontier. They plan to build a fort that will not only give the local settlers peace of mind and added protection, but serve as a 'home base' from which they can continue the search for Jacob's wife Maggie and Joshua's best friend One-Ear. Though the raids seem to lessen with the presence of the well-constructed fort, the Delaware have not withdrawn completely. A rescue mission soon turns out disastrous when the men are ambushed and Jacob is taken prisoner by chief Tewea, the dangerous warrior nicknamed Captain Jacobs. Help often comes from unexpected sources, and the Murrays soon find themselves face to face with ghosts from the past and a mysterious band of sentinels that are keeping watch over the Pennsylvania forests. www.thegauntletrunner1754.com

Coming off the disaster on the Monongahela, Jacob Murray and his young friend Joshua return to Fort Cumberland under the command of George Washington. The defeated British army soon withdraws further east, leaving the frontier virtually undefended. With the frontier left unprotected, Delaware raiding parties begin striking the settlers in an effort to clear their lands of the English. Jacob and Joshua lead a company of militia deep into the French-held Pennsylvania frontier. They plan to build a fort that will not only give the local settlers peace of mind and added protection, but serve as a 'home base' from which they can continue the search for Jacob's wife Maggie and Joshua's best friend One-Ear. Though the raids seem to lessen with the presence of the well-constructed fort, the Delaware have not withdrawn completely. A rescue mission soon turns out disastrous when the men are ambushed and Jacob is taken prisoner by chief Tewea, the dangerous warrior nicknamed Captain Jacobs. Help often comes from unexpected sources, and the Murrays soon find themselves face to face with ghosts from the past and a mysterious band of sentinels that are keeping watch over the Pennsylvania forests. www.thegauntletrunner1754.com

With the events of the past year freshly engraved in his mind, Jacob Murray lies in wait, just a stone's throw from a French outpost in the midst of the western Pennsylvania wilderness. Having teamed up with the two young men who helped his wife escape her Huron captors, he waits for any sign of Maggie or the French merchant who purchased her. A straightforward plan for ambush soon goes awry and Jacob and Joshua are separated from Maggie and One-Ear; the latter pair heads towards Canada, the former for Fort Duquesne. While Maggie's efforts to escape and avoid French captivity lead to unexpected encounters with the native tribes of New York and Canada, including the great Ottawa leader Pontiac, Jacob himself is taken captive by the French. With Joshua's help, he is able to escape, but life as a deserter is very dangerous, especially when the British army is amassing nearby under the watchful eye of Major General Edward Braddock. Jacob and Maggie Murray long for their peaceful life on the homestead in Pennsylvania, but with two great countries and their native allies battling over the Ohio Valley, their wishes must remain ungranted...at least for now."

Private Jacob Murray, a twenty-six-year-old Pennsylvanian volunteer in the ranks of George Washington s Virginia Provincial Militia, is scouting the dense, almost impassable Ohio Valley wilderness in May 1754. Together with his twin brother, Israel, and two Mingo warriors, Jacob searches for a party of French troops encroaching on British soil.

Back at home, Murray s wife, Maggie, and their four children carve out a meager existence until a group of French and Huron war parties raid their small farm. Taken captive, they are unsure if they will live to see their husband and father again.

With word spreading that French-backed Huron raiding parties are decimating the Pennsylvania countryside and taking white captives, young Major Washington, Murray, and a French officer bent on revenge are destined to cross paths. As three hostile powers continue to vie for control of the coveted Ohio Valley, a war soon begins that will engulf them all.

The Gauntlet Runner tells a tale of fractured lives, broken treaties, and the stark realities of the struggles faced by early American settlers as they risk their lives to cultivate the young, formidable nation.