While working on a building that he has rented with intentions of opening a small animal clinic, Westbrook responds to cries for help and rescues a young boy who has fallen into an unmarked well. As he climbs down into the well to help the boy, he notices a skeleton lying on some of the stones that form a ledge in the well. Further investigation leads to the discovery of a second, much older skeleton in the shallow water. Local authorities are called in to investigate.

It is determined that one of the skeletons belonged to a poacher who fell in the well about fifty years ago and the other is Rachel Hayes who, with her pet collie, climbed into the well seeking refuge from the great fire of 1871.

The remains of Rachel Hayes cause interest and concern as a newspaper reporter, seeing a major story digs into her history while Rachel’s only living relative wants her bones destroyed and disposed of. Matters are further complicated when it seems as if unexplained fires seem to follow anyone who had any contact with Rachel’s skeleton; even her cremation takes on surreal qualities.

There appears to be something about the skeletons from the well that someone wants kept very quiet. But who? And why?

David Westbrook would be content if everybody just forgot about the discovery and left him alone. But as the finder of the skeletons and the rescuer of the young boy, he is the center of unwanted attention and there is no escape.

Dr. Westbrook’s true personality is best understood through his relationship with the group of dogs, mostly Greyhounds, that he has rescued from the shelter and is in the process of rehabilitating. His patience and kindness come through loud and clear as he works with the dogs, and tend to contradict the distrust and lack of tolerance that he displays with some of the humans in this story. Dr. Westbrook’s capacity to lovingly care for his four legged creatures even though his own life has been plagued by constant tragedy, is what allows the author to skillfully and compassionately violate the most uncompromising rule of fiction writing: Never harm an animal.

Doug Allyn has never disappointed me in his writing and with this book, the tradition continues.