A Country for Castoffs

Based on a true story. In October 1660, Etienne Gayneau rushes through the cobblestone streets of La Rochelle, France, to meet his cousin at the harbor. A ship carrying King Louis XIV's elite musketeers is docking. He dreams of becoming one himself, but has no idea that their arrival will force his Huguenot family to flee in the dead of night. His cousin has offered him a safe haven. Now he must choose - stay and pursue his dream or leave and face an uncertain destiny. Both choices are fraught with dangers. Either way his life will never be the same.

It is June 10, 1663 and Etienne is running through a field of wild pasture, startling a flock of grouse into the air amid a frenzy of feathers and squawking, as he heads toward a double wedding in town. He has no idea that the ceremony will be interrupted with the news of a Native American attack on the Dutch settlement up north, the consequences of which will turn his world upside down threatening his family, community, and Lenape friends. He must choose–protect his new friends or defend his community. Both choices demand great sacrifice and risk the lives of those he loves.

September 20, 1663, gulls circle and dive overhead as the sails unfurl propelling the ship carrying twelve-year-old Etienne Gayneau and ten-year-old Abraham Dayton toward Boston and new business opportunities that promise them everything they want. Unknown to them, these ventures also carry the power to destroy. Each boy must choose - take the easy road of promise that leads to destruction, or follow the harder path to self-discovery. Both choices will cost them everything.

Etienne wakes up to find himself marooned somewhere in the Caribbean during hurricane season in 1664. A storm sunk the pirate ship on which he’d been forced to serve. As he struggles to get his bearings, he hears voices approaching. The pirate captain has also survived! Rushing toward safety in the jungle, the weight of his situation is crushing, as he must again face untold dangers and an uncertain future. Meanwhile, Abraham is worried about his younger brother, Caleb, who has been indentured into a potentially abusive situation with an accused witch.