Elizabeth (Liz) Drayton, daughter of a prominent and powerful Arizona rancher, has been kidnapped. He enlists twin brothers Thomas and Travis Yancey, newly appointed U.S. Marshals, to head up the search.
Liz's half-brother, Cochinay, serves as a guide across grassland, desert sand, and up into the Pinaleño Mountains.
The kidnapper is Baldwin (Win) Carpenter, a former sheriff turned outlaw. Win wants the money Liz's father owes him, and he is willing to go to great lengths to get it.
A strange thing happens during their trek to Win's mountain hideaway, however. The two become friends. Liz puts together willow bark tea to ease Win's suffering caused by rheumatism, and she takes on some of the heavier chores to spare him further pain.
Meanwhile, the search party is intercepted by a hostile Apache named Itza-chu. The meeting is cool, but Cochinay senses danger in the man's presence.
Eventually, both Yanceys and their guide stumble across the cabin where Liz has been stashed. Surprisingly, she behaves more like a good friend than a captive, and the Marshals are taken aback by her congenial attitude toward the outlaw.
Thomas is also handily smitten with the beauteous and capable Elizabeth Drayton. Plans are made to return her to her home, and Win Carpenter to the nearest authorities, when a crisis intercedes, and circumstances change. Thomas's plans are thrown completely out of kilter.
Battles and bloodshed and a welter of human emotion lead up the mountain and back down again.
