Territorial Marshal Royce Hargadon arrives in Junction City masquerading as the new school teacher. He soon discovers disturbing forces at work. Were these elements caused by a pompous dictatorial Mayor, a crooked sheriff, a teacher that terrorizes her students or a vague Minister refusing to acknowledge controversial issues? It was Royce's job to discover the truth along with the identity of the deadly Barlow Gang's leader. His problem, nearly half of the citizens fit the man's description the other half were women and children. Faith Gaines was the eldest daughter of a poor Minister. Her father expected her to make a marriage to her advantage. So, she could help her four younger sisters. Faith was drawn to Marshal Hargadon while knowing he did not fit into her father's plans. Surely love and happiness were more important than financial security. When Faith disappears Royce knows he is on the right trail. His next step was to bring his man to justice before Faith came to harm. That was the easy part. The hard part would be to convince Faith he was the right man for her. Could he win her heart as well as her loyalty.