Wes Cullen is a former Confederate Army officer convicted of murder and imprisoned. Finding life behind bars intolerable, he escapes by bludgeoning down a guard. But the cost of freedom turns out to be far greater than he expects. He acquires temporary sanctuary with a young widow who is in desperate trouble herself. With her daughter sick, she is striving to keep the land she and her late husband farmed – but the local cattle baron and his lustful sons have other ideas. Meanwhile Cullen becomes further involved with outlawry and a price is placed upon his head. With enemies all around, he is plunged into a vortex of catastrophe, drawing ever closer to a rope’s end.