A way of life is threatened as the conflict between North and South rages on long after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Combatants include a saw mill superintendent murdered in his home, a hot-headed but fair-minded sheriff who must bring the killer or killers to justice, the superintendent's pretty blond widow who carries a gun and knows how to use it, a river raftsman who works both sides, and a cold blooded assassin. These and others speak in their own voices to tell this story.