A small southern community isolated between two rivers in western Kentucky promises a new life for Chicago-born Nick Kincaid. He's about to realize his dream of becoming a teacher and to finally meet girls and have a social life, thus far hampered by living with his parents. But trouble starts to brew on the train when he's followed by a stranger with knowledge of his destination. Nick's difficulties heighten when he meets and later falls in love with a beautiful girl, only to have her leave for the holidays and not return, and when he learns he's settled in a small community that lives by a secret code outside the law, even when murder is involved. Despite Nick's training and goodhearted sincerity, all his careful plans start to unravel when a lady with good intentions tells a little white lie that threatens his teaching career, his first meaningful love affair, and his very life.