In June 1783, three-year-old Sarah Whitcher wanders into the woods and disappears. For three long days, friends and neighbors search fruitlessly for her. Then a stranger leads the desperate family to a pine tree beneath which the child lies. Sarah tells her rescuers of the "big black dog" that kept her warm every night--but the bear tracks encircling her tell a different tale.

"A treat for 'pioneer story' buffs."--School Library Journal