With the entire summer stretched before him, Austin Hutchinson is looking forward to fun, family, and quiet but trouble has a way of following Austin wherever he goes. First, while traveling to the Ravenals' vacation home, he overhears two men scheming against his Uncle Drayton and spies a boy tampering with the family's stagecoach. Then, while playing one afternoon near the church, Austin and Charlotte have a run-in with the same boy and his brother! The bullies, who hate "Yankees," are intent on making Austin sorry for wearing his American flag pin a symbol of unity among the Union states. Will Austin, Uncle Drayton, and the others escape the dangers surrounding them? Can Austin find peace amidst all the hostility?