IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY OF PRE-STATEHOOD OKLAHOMA, a brutal assault has been committed against a young Creek woman by the name of Etta Jane "Mock" Burnham. A full description of how and why the assault occurred is revealed, but, surprisingly, sympathy for the victim is not what it ought to be. Soon, the focus shifts more toward the consequences of the crime than the incident itself.
TWO PERSONAL PROBLEMS turned Mock into the rebellious and angry young woman she was - the toxic relationship that existed between herself and her parents and her outright hatred of her backwater hometown. Things had been said and done that could not be taken back or forgotten, much less forgiven, blind and thoughtless anger on Mock's part had made it much too late for that. All she could think of was how to escape the choking constraints of her parental home and the hometown she abhorred.
MOCK'S OWN TERRIBLE ATTITUDE had turned her into a vengeful bridge burner as well, a young woman who had not only taken full advantage of but also perversely relished every opportunity that arose to alienate the very people - family members, friends, and neighbors - who in the normal course of things would have helped her when the going got rough. Her own behavior led first to an ill-fated association with the man most everyone in her community referred to as "Crazy Early" and then to what eventually came to be referred to as "The Story of Mock's Bad Stomp". Mock was a young woman who asked for trouble, and, sadly for her, that's exactly what she wound up getting.
