Cassie Edmond was puzzled by the odd behaviour of those around her. First it was the curious bark from their dog Butte, then the old Ute called Charlie who sometimes called to trade for coffee and flour but now sat silent on his droop-headed paint at the yard gate. Finally it was her father, lifting down his Winchester to go hunting for meat when the meal she'd been preparing was ready for the table. But when Brad Edmond returned home, carried by Charlie Ute and a stranger, his life slipping away, his back shredded by shotgun pellets, it was the start of a night of unexpected violence for Cassie, and days of trouble for the stranger Walt Ridgeway.