This is the first novel which Kim Abney has illustrated.
Several of her pen and ink drawings are scattered throughout the book, and she also provided the cover art.

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The author,

Phil Coleman has enjoyed an adventurous life kayaking and river guiding from the Rogue to the Russell Fork, the Ottawa to the Apurimac. He can be found on the Yough River, Tampa Bay or his home in Peralta, Costa Rica. Phil is presently working on his next novel: Bridge of Souls.

Foreword

One sad September afternoon in the early '80's I stood on the banks of the Gauley River at the scene of a body recovery. Present were state law enforcement officers, two divers who had found the kayaker in a pool downstream from where he had disappeared earlier that day. Dozens of kayakers and raft guides were there for the somber scene. Dry eyes were few and far between. As we made our way back up out of the gorge, I diverted off from the crowd and walked instead up the now dry river bed. Water from the dam had been shut off to facilitate the search so I was clambering over damp rocks and boulders. I wanted to see the rocks that had trapped the unlucky boater, hopefully to learn something about the spot to help in some future similar situation. I had expected to find a few rocks causing a constricted passage but instead found myself in a cave under a massive boulder. It was a perfect trap. I stood in the cave with droplets falling from the roof onto my head. The water was oddly warm, almost hot, Then I felt that I was not alone there. Something else was with me in that cave. It was an evil presence. I had kayaked from when I was young, My friends and I learned the sport and took it to new levels. We took on the challenges presented by the rapids we ran and took greater and greater risks. As our skills increased, so did a new awareness of the rhymes and rhythms of the water we were paddling. There was something timeless that was speaking to me in a language I did not yet fully understand. I stood in that cave with the heat and the mist and the dropping water and at that moment this book was born. It would take a dozen years to finally sit down and type it out. I would like to feel that I did a good job spinning a tale that does justice to the feelings that came to me that day, and over a lifetime of adventure on the rivers and streams of our planet. This book was written on a typewriter before I ever sat down in front of a computer. All of the research was done the old fashioned way: libraries, the postal service, technical manuals and interviews. I feel indebted to the late chief RainCrow of the Shawnee nation for his willingness to help create the mindset his people might have had a thousand years ago. I also would like to thank my parents for their support and help and that of my sister for putting this together.

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