SYNOPSIS

In an endless sea of prairie grass, a single grave sits on a lonely hill, the last resting place of Thomas Meadows, gone three years now.  Below, in a quiet valley, his ranch, where his wife Pandora and thirteen-year-old daughter Hester lead a hard and difficult life.  The once fertile land has dried to dust and blown away, the livestock long dead, the crops gone along with any hope the two women might have had.

On a crisp, sunny morning, a series of shots ring out in the distance and Pandora knows it can only be trouble.  She pulls her husband’s Colt Walker pistol from the trunk under the bed and readies herself for what is to come.  She and Hester watch and wait through the day, and, sure enough, the trouble arrives in the form of Calhoun, a desperado with a vicious leg wound who has crawled across the prairie to escape the rest of his outlaw gang.  Along with the bullet wound, Calhoun has brought along the bank money he and his partners stole.

Desperate, their new guest reveals that he killed the members of his gang to get the money and was wounded in the resulting gunfight.  But Calhoun has bad news: he killed the brother of Bear John, a sadistic and vicious outlaw who will be on his trail for revenge.

Pandora realizes the coming danger.  She and Hester must try to survive still more hardship and pain.  She also realizes that Calhoun may be their savior; he’s good with a gun and has a cache of his own weapons to aid in the coming fight.

The ensuing battle proves as dark and unexpected as anything that has come before.