A man of culture, lawyer James Madison Randolph enjoys a refined life in Boston, far away from the ramshackle ranch he grew up on and the secrets that haunted him there. Forced to return to the hated frontier when his brother is accused of murder, he still has no use for anything it has to offer--not the backbreaking work, not the barren wastelands, and especially not the sharp-tongued vixen named Fern who wants to gun down his entire family.