This was no ordinary cattle drive through Sheriff Santiago Toole's Miles City in the Montana Territory. Three cowboys in the outfit had already stopped bullets, and the boss man Hermes Bragg was dying of consumption. But his two hard-bitten, closemouthed kids would keep pressing on, no matter what.

Since Toole was the doctor, his first responsibility was to the wounded. But he was a lawman too, and the Bragg outfit wasn't lamming out before he had some answers. Trouble was, young Athena Bragg didn't intend to hang around, and she'd kill anyone who tried to persuade her. That's why no one had dared interfere with the Braggs - until now . . .