BAD MOON RISING

INTRODUCTION

                                                    INTRODUCTION

BAD MOON RISING begins at the dawn of Saturday, 21st April 2007 and covers the events in and around Bamptonville, Nebraska over the ensuing weekend.

It is the continuing story of THE "COUSINS', the book that introduced the characters and events leading into this title. It is not necessary to first read the earlier book, although it's better if you do - readers are advised to read The Cousins for a fuller understanding of the events that follow in this continuation story.

The brief synopsis that follows introduces the characters and the events so far if you prefer to start here, or as a reminder if you have read the first book some time ago.

Bamptonville is a town of 2000 people to the west of Lincoln, Nebraska, just off the I-80 and sixty three miles south of the next largest town, Larksville, 5000 people.

Greg Mitchell was an impatient, intolerant, self-centred, hotshot British businessman who created a recruitment empire in UK only to lose everything – wife, home, business, status and friends in a rogue divorce settlement.

He came to the US intending to rediscover himself and after being misdirected through Bamptonville, accidentally knocked down an 11th grade high schoolboy, Jesse White; son of a small farmer scratching a living out of growing melons.

Greg had little to his name anymore, but saw this boy had even less, and when the police officer witnessing the accident suggested Jesse sue Greg, the boy declined, because 'it was as much my fault as his'.

The strength of the boy's integrity and character overwhelmed Greg, for whom money had always changed hands in his previous life to settle differences and problems. He had a 'Damascus Road' change in his own outlook and – with nothing else to occupy him and since his time was now his own - decided to stay in town to help the boy.

Soon afterwards, Greg discovers a group of good people, mostly of ethnic origins held in a poverty trap. They were people who wanted to work but were prevented from doing so because of prejudice and unhelpful new regulations. They lived in a five-apartment condo in Whitewater - the deprived area of the town. Greg sets out to improve their lives as well. And they became his 'Cousins'.

Bamptonville is in Cripps County, where chicken farming is the main occupation. The county is run by a cartel of five people headed by big businessman rancher Ross Noble: District Judge Denman, Sheriff Flik Donovan, Mayor Denton and banker Bill Courtley are the others. These are the local prominente.

They dislike progress in any form and the town languishes under the values and practices of a bygone age. There is no ADSL or cable broadband in the town. Power supplies are through an inadequate spur from a main network with outages frequently occurring.

Mitt Fawley, inherited Fawley Grain and Feed from his father. The Fawley's came up from Kansas over forty years ago to take over the business and are still considered locally as outsiders. This rankles Fawley, who is obsessed with becoming the county's 'bigshot' in place of Ross Noble. His idol is the 70th governor of Massachusetts, whose handle he appropriated for himself. Trish Conalty is his fiery bookkeeper who spends a lot of her time and mental energy fighting off Mitt's amorous advances.

Walt Kempster was his General manager until Friday 20th April, when Mitt fired him to put Trish in his place on the understanding that she goes to Tahoe with him for the weekend. She told his wife, and Mitt has yet to take her to task for getting him a black eye from Mrs. Fawley's right fist.