Diane M. Johnson

Thirty years ago a major Thruway bridge was built across a small creek near the town of Fort Hunter, New York. It had its problems with construction delays and local protests, but it was built and it was strong. Thirty years later the bridge collapses when spring floods transform the meager creek into a raging torrent. The collapse takes several lives and almost includes the life of Aaron Bonner, volunteer firefighter, who swears he saw a vengeful Indian spirit take the bridge down. He just needs to convince Sheriff Ben Harrigan that the same Indian spirit seeks more vengeance. But the sheriff knows that Aaron is just like his father, who tried to sabotage the bridge when it was first built, while in the throes of a mental breakdown. Has Aaron gone crazy? Or does the sheriff have something to hide? A near death experience triggers Aaron's sensitivity to supernatural forces at work in the town of Fort Hunter. But his father's history of mental instability makes Aaron doubt his own sanity. He confides in Sheriff Harrigan, the father of his girlfriend, in a moment of desperation-- but memories are long in small towns like Fort Hunter, and the sheriff remembers well Joe Bonner's attempt to sabotage the original construction of the bridge. He was there. And it was his fault. Harrigan knows the town isn't being attacked by an Indian spirit seeking revenge. He knows Aaron is suffering from the same mental illness as his father. But when other things begin to happen-- things that can't be explained by a man experiencing a nervous breakdown-- the sheriff must come to terms with his own role in Joe Bonner's mental collapse in order to save himself, his daughter's boyfriend and the rest of the town.