A brawl in the streets of Cork changes Kit Hawkwood's life irrevocably. He is forced to leave the army and face an uncertain future as a fugitive in Virginia Colony. When his pursuers follow him to Virginia he flees west of the Blue Ridge, into the Irish Tracts peopled by wild Scots Irish who have no love or respect for either the Crown or for an English gentleman.As he seeks to make his fortune and redeem himself he is forced into conflict with a vicious gang bent on taking that which he is honor- and duty-bound to protect and also with his erstwhile patron who doesn't always have Hawkwood's best interests at heart. Complicating matters, he finds himself falling in love with a headstrong girl who often frustrates his best laid plans.Can he not only accept the way the Scots Irish live but become more ruthless than the men seeking his demise? And will he must learn that he cannot prevail by his own efforts alone?