The South Carolina back country is no place for a young girl to grow up in the 1760s, but sixteen-year-old Emily Stewart wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s much to love in the settlement of Ninety-six, where her father, Breck Stewart runs a tavern. But there’s much to fear, too. Ganges of murderers, thieves and robbers terrorize the country with virtual impunity. Pleas to the government in Charlestown fall on deaf ears. The governor refuses to send in the militia or establish courts or jails in the district, and even pardons five murderers. As the savagery continues, Breck Stewart finally is forced to take a stand, forming a vigilante group called the Cane Creek Regulators. The settlers take the law into their own hands – even though such an act will be considered treason and could land everyone riding with the vigilantes in a colonial prison, or on the gallows. And when the Cane Creek Regulators become too vicious themselves, who will rise up against them?