No longer going by the name of Parson Bob, and hoping no one will connect him with the young gunfighter who was said to have killed men from Colorado to Alaska, Rash Pargun finds himself in Van Bent, Texas, on the trail of the man who murdered his mother and left him beaten beside a road many years before. Now just a cowboy, known to no one as a gunfighter, Rash dreams that once the matter is settled about his parentage he can just find a place to settle down, raise a few cattle and-his greatest hope of all-settle down with a lovely young bride. His only worry is that the fits of rage-the ones that led an old saddle partner to nickname him "Rash"-are not gone and he can never be trusted around civilized people. Mostly, he wonders if he can trust himself.