In 1890, the rough western town of Whiskey Bend, Colorado, is no place for single women. The final straw for widow Pearl Parsons and young schoolteacher Hallie Wolcott is the assault on their friend Mary. Desperately fleeing from the attacker, the three women drive away in an open wagon, seeking new lives and safety. When they're caught in a violent storm on the road, help comes in the form of a stranger, Eli Morgan.

While spending a summer with her famous mother and her criminal boyfriend, Sydney Reilly, age fifteen, finds love with Nicco but her premonition of something bad coming proves dreadfully accurate.