Ol' Slantface — John T. Wayne

During the Civil War, twelve-year-old Dillon Childs's father joins the Confederacy and asks Reverend Jeremiah Culpepper to take Dillon and his six-year-old sister, Jenny, to St. Louis to live with their uncle. The uncle has also joined the Confederacy, leaving the two children alone and destitute in the huge city, where orphaned and abandoned children roam the streets. Dillon, scared for his little sister and what could happen to her, comes to the conclusion they would be better off alone, and sets out to walk back to their home on Current River. Along the way, they run into Lucifer Deal, who Dillon calls Ol'Slantface because of a disfigurement. Deal, a slave trader, has expanded his business to include young boys he can sell to ship's captains for free labor. Dillon learns Reverend Culpepper and Ol' Slantface are in cahoots and are holding the boys at Dillon's home. He finds a way to get Jenny to safety, but Culpepper, determined to be rid of Dillon and Ol'Slantface, ambush them as they come back from buying supplies. Dillon escapes, but from that point on, his life becomes a fight to survive. Knowing he'll never be safe until the Reverend is captured or dead, Dillon and Ol' Slantface join forces and along with a troop of soldiers, journey to a tropical island, brave the arid desert lands to bring a man to justice, if only Dillon can stay alive long enough to accomplish his goal. From 1861 - 1865 a storm rolled through our nation and in its wake left behind a path of death and destruction. Over 100,000 children lost everything they had come to know including both parents. This tragedy took place during the Civil War and sadly for years after; during a period known as Reconstruction. What became of those children? How were they instrumental in shaping the future of our society? These questions are answered in my series of books called, "The Gaslight Boys." Charles Dickens is credited with being the original Gaslight Boy, but there were many other Gaslight Children created by the war. The Gaslight Boys series brings to life the hardships, the conditions and individual struggles buried and/or forgotten by time.