Thicketty

Thicketty is a compilation of true and half-true stories with just enough fiction thrown in to tie it all together. The story takes place between 1854 and 1871 in what was then part of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The two main characters are Walt Banneck and his son, Cal.
     Walt is a man of burning passions who can be as thoughtful and kind as he can be heartless and cruel. A dirt-poor farmer and family man, shunned by his pious neighbors before being called to serve in the confederate army,  he returns to become not only a relatively successful farmer and entrepreneur, but the area's champion as well.
     And Cal, a young boy who idolizes his all too often absent father and who receives little love from his mother, is drawn into the bosom of the farm's Negro family.  From the night his little sister, Susan, is born, Cal has a special place in his heart for her. And, from the day when Ben Trivette's beautiful young daughter comes for her first tutorial visit, Cal knows that she will someday be his wife and the mother of his children.
     It is a story of love and hate, of compassion and vindictiveness, of protection and treachery, and of prudence and recklessness. But most of all, it is a story of youthful determination and the undying hope that somehow tomorrow will be better than today.