Tormented by the consciousness of her terrible act, ten-year-old Kadi Forbes is sure that she does not and cannot have a petition. Everything pushes her to find the sin eater. This quest, in the company of Fagan Kai, the son of the most ferocious mountain dweller, leads to an encounter with an even more interesting character. The stranger claims that he was sent to introduce the inhabitants of the mountains to the One who is truly able to take away their sins. The subsequent revelation of dark secrets that residents would prefer never to remember surrounds Cadi and Fagan with a ring of anger and persecution, but also leads in the finale to the triumph of truth and love.