Ruben Santiago, enslaved in Mexico as a child, has turned his back on his Navajo heritage. Now an old man, his only friend is Morgan Braddock, a haunted Civil War veteran with a questionable past. Morgan wants nothing more than to return to his wife and children, but a hangman's noose stands in the way. Esther Corbin, abandoned by her husband, and her four children face an uncertain future on the outskirts of Chasm Creek, a territorial mining town. When the two men seek help at her isolated farm, their growing friendship unleashes consequences that expose the lies upon which they have built their lives. Ghostly visitations and violent confrontations rip away their illusions and, when a vengeful stranger arrives in Chasm Creek, Ruben is forced to confront his past in order to save his friend's life. This is a story of friendship and family, love and loss, and finding one's place in the merciless Arizona desert.