In this final book of the Rawlins Trilogy, Virgil and Sarah Rawlins, along with their children, depart Paradise Valley in the Montana Territory to travel back East. While his intent is to bid a final farewell at the graves of his family, hers is for a hopeful reconciliation with family in Tennessee. Their trip becomes an action-packed adventure by boat down the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers and by train from Council Bluffs to St. Louis.

Rawlins soon learns that his days riding with the Confederate cavalry and later working for the Union Pacific Railroad as a policeman have developed into legend. Once again, he wears his twin-rig revolvers and is forced to use them as he meets trouble head-on in his quest to protect family and others. Once again, he must become a man riding a narrow trail between self-preservation and the law.