Amity Whitford dared stake her own claim on the plains of western Kansas. She built her own homestead with her bare hands and tamed the wild lands. Then she set her sights on politics, running for election as the county school superintendent. But as her dream came within reach, and her love for local newspaper publisher Chalk Holden staked its own claim in her heart, Amity's past returned, bringing a menace more fierce than a storm on the open plains . . .