The time had come for the boys to go to university, but no sooner had their term started than all the Edgeworths and the Berkshires were expelled. This led Liza and Jamie on a furious journey to get answers to this uncharacteristic situation, as they knew that there had to be a logical reason for whatever actions the boys had taken.

For a while the household was in uproar but eventually it settled, and an enjoyable Christmas was followed by the promising New Year of 1861.

Liza and Jamie excitedly made plans to visit their friend Charles Enderby in South Carolina and they embarked on their trip before Easter of that year, although suggestions of war between the north and south of America had once again come to the fore but were dismissed as they had been on many occasions in the past.

Unfortunately the first shots in the Civil War were fired whilst Liza and Jamie were still in South Carolina. They were held hostage by the Confederates and then caught up in some of the action as they tried to make their way home. It resulted in their experiencing the horrors of war, as a battle raged near Liza's beloved town of Benson. They lost friends and saw sights that they both found difficult to come to terms with.

For a while they believed that they would never again see their family and friends in England, for to reach their home seemed more than they were capable of accomplishing.