Driven away from home and hearth - and his sweetheart - by his father, Ben seeks refuge in the remote wilderness of Forlorn River. Bad deals have turned the world against him. Determined to show what he is made of and what he can do, Ben pursues a herd of wild horses. The herd leads him directly into danger: cattle thieves with connections in high places. Distrusted by the woman he loves, menaced by killers, and hounded by slander, Ben finds his day of reckoning at the edge of Forlorn River. What he does next will make him an outcast or a hero.