Seph Vermillion grew up dirt poor. As long as he can remember, he's been pushing a plow and arguing with a mule. A couple of times a year, a trio of bandits ravage the family farm and make off with their savings. Pa never returned home after the war. Seph's siblings have been gone so long, he doesn't remember what they look like. When Ma dies after a long illness, Seph trades the family farm for a horse named, Sheriff. The kid next door tells Seph about the Deatherage Longhorn Cattle Ranch. The allure of adventure beckons. They partner up and hit the trail. Lacking skills, they are the last cowboys hired and agree to work for half pay. The outfit's top hand, Stoke Moreland pranks, taunts, and threatens Seph. Why does the seasoned cowboy seem intent on driving him off? Seph doesn't know much about self-defense, but he is tired of being a victim and feeling violated. How long can he turn the other cheek? The trail is fraught with hazards from perilous river crossings to the mother of all stampedes. When they realize they're being tracked, followed, and hunted, a growing sense of doom overwhelms the fledgling outfit of wet-behind-the-ears cowboys. The outlaws that plagued Seph's past have followed them and are determined to take the herd. Their plan is pit the cowboys against each other, pick them off one by one, and stampede the beeves. Since they left San Antonio, the drovers have looked forward to whooping it up at the end of the trail. That was before somebody began killing cowboys. Now, Abilene seems like an impossible dream. Will anybody make it to the end of the trail?  --Back cover