Sacred Grounds — William Moore

Because of his dark skin and questionable origins, the young Cathan Dussault was taunted and ridiculed. Survivability in an insensitive world demands flexibility, and children are remarkably flexible.  However, there are limits to a child's ability to manage his environment, particularly when negative inputs are overwhelming.  Cathan came home from school one day anticipating a joyful reunion with his small sister.  It was raining, and a daunting, muddy hill persuaded the bus driver to drop him off at a distance from the house.  His uncle was not aware of the boys arrival, and the boy witnessed, through a keyhole, his uncle molesting his sister, who was too young to be quite aware of what was going on.  When Cathan told their father, a violent scene ensued, but for reasons obscure to the boy, the uncle was not ejected from the house.  Cathan and his sister must live in that house with innocence-shattering knowledge and under on-going pressure of reprisal by the uncle.  The psychological hell that Cathan underwent worked upon his mind until it sought help from a bizarre source.  He fell ill for a protracted time, and while in a near comatose state, he had a vision so real that years afterward he came to believe he had suffered an out-of-body experience.  Though marginally aware of his mother's physical presence during his sickness, a part of him traveled to another plane.  Within that otherworldly dimension, he was adopted by Indians that had inhabited the nearby sacred grounds long before.  Through rituals, they gave the boy a new identity, and through physical trials, they taught him the meaning of fearlessness.  When he awoke, physically ravaged by the illness, but empowered by the forgotten mystical experience, he found the inner strength to survive the hell of living in the same house with his uncle.  He graduated from high school and left to seek his future.  The conscious Cathan Dussault avoided memories of the ugly incident witnessed through the keyhole, but within him dwelled a personality not so forgiving.  Recurring dreams inserted an uneasiness into Cathan's psyche, and he grew to believe that he was battling insanity.  He did not realize that another part of him was exacting revenge against innocent proxies for his uncle's aberrant behavior.  The angst of his other's deeds was seeping through well-constructed emotional barriers, trying to alert the moral Cathan Dussault to the wrongful behavior of his suppressed personality.  Beyond the ken of the conscious Cathan Dussault, arcane forces were at play, guiding the actions of his secret persona.  Could Cathan be held accountable for crimes he was unaware of?  A half-breed Cherokee detective of the Bannock County Sheriff Department believed so.  By accident, he linked the murders of several people with Cathan Dussault.  Aaron Walker was dedicated to righting wrong, no matter how small or great the infraction. However, Aaron Walker shared an Indian ancestry, and he was unaware that arcane forces worked upon him as well.  Are there forces outside human awareness controlling the actions of men?  Are there clearly defined rules of human conduct inscribed upon some ethereal text that are sacrosanct, and their violations enforced by supernatural judge and jury? Though ignorant of his crimes, is Cathan Dussault guilty?  If you dare to judge, read the book and don your black robe.