In the mid-eighteenth century a dancing bear owned by Jonas Garbee was tormented and then killed by the villagers of Charford Payne. Garbee swore revenge. Now, strangely, at the annual Michaelmas Fair in Charford Payne they celebrate the terrible affair with a villager donning a bear costume and capering about. Also, strangely, close to the Michaelmas Fair peculiar happenings have occurred – are these random acts of vandalism or does Garbee's Bear return to haunt and terrorize. Sisters Maggie Standish and Pat Muirfield find themselves under siege, but who or what is behind their terrifying ordeal. Is the attack by a large grizzly bear real, a prank or a figment of their imagination? Does a local family have a a plan to oust the Muirfield from a cottage they clain is really theirs by ancient rights? Where is Pat's husband Ben? The story reaches its climax with shots being fired and blood spilled.