I'm not guilty. I'm not!" This phrase has become Matty Buhrmann's mantra since her terrifying car accident on the Washington D.C. beltway resulted in a woman's death. Despite her acquittal, fearfulness and guilt continue to undermine her happiness, her work as a property manager and her marriage. When a psychiatrist recommends a vacation spot that he calls 'magic," Matty eagerly packs her computer and a box of paperwork and heads west into the peaceful countryside that was once the site of a Civil War battle. But her psychological problems only become worse until, as she sits crying, the hand of a pretty young girl reaches out to her. After the shock of the first appearance, Matty finds the presence of this child who died 150 years ago to be both troubling and promising. Is there some form of existence after death, or is she hallucinating? Her psychiatrist diagnoses a psychotic breakdown, but Matty believes that the peculiar residents who inhabit the mountain area and Civil War history prove that the girl once existed, something Matty feels compelled to confirm for her own sanity. Finally, both physically and emotionally exhausted from frightening incidents and humorous encounters, Matty stumbles upon a truth neither she nor her doctor could have predicted.
