The Moon Promise - Book 2

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THE MOON PROMISE
Front and Back Cover Summaries

Evil cares nothing about mercy,
...except as a final pleas from its victim

In 1754, England begins to lose territory to France, fighting an undeclared war in the North American wilderness. Europe remains at peace. Neither side wants a land war among the great powers. But in the western wilderness that would later be called Pennsylvania, events take place that cannot be ignored. French troops clash with Virginia militia at the junction of three mighty rivers. The Ohio. The Allegheny. The Monongahela. This place would later be called Pittsburg. But in 1754, the Virginia militia are humiliated and forced to abandon the strategic location to the superior numbers of the French troops. The French build Fort Duquesne at this spot. A few weeks later, a French ambassador is sent overland to the east, to see the Virginia governor with an offering of peace. The Virginia militia are commanded by an ambitious young Lieutenant Colonel named George Washington. Washington ambushes the French emissary,  J oseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville. The French are massacred. Jumonville is scalped. Philippe Gerrard alone escapes to report the massacre. This infamy would later be recounted as a reason for the French declaration of war against England. 

Michelle de Propei and her son Henri Gerrard are abducted by Seneca warriors near Fort Niagara and taken deep into the wilderness. Upon returning to Fort Niagara, Philippe Gerrard learns of their abduction and hurries in pursuit, only to be severely injured in a fall. He asks a powerful Erie tribal shaman called Chittaqua to search for them while he heals. Philippe wears a gold ring set with a large purple gemstone. It is engraved with four enigmatic symbols. Chittaqua had seen these same symbols carved into four standing stones surrounding an isolated grave. But that grave is so old, knowledge of who raised these stones has been lost. The shaman believes this coincidence was no accident. He agrees to help Philippe and fashions a silver amulet that matches the symbols on Philippe’s ring. Weeks later, Philippe heals enough to join this search. 

The possessed and notorious assassin, Helmut Colbért, finally arrives at Fort Niagara. He is pursuing Philippe Gerrard with an unnatural determination. He intends to kill the fur trader, Michelle and Henri, or anyone else he loves. This sequel to The Ghost Eagle builds to a dramatic confrontation between the old world and the new, with an epic struggle between good and evil.