Ten-year-old Hope Corrigan is out sketching in the New Mexico brush when she runs across Deputy Marshal Liberty Mercer: a woman as handy with a Colt . 45 as with a Winchester '86, and on the trail of three escaped convicts. When Hope's father is murdered by the criminals, leaving her orphaned, the marshal takes her under her wing as they continue the pursuit. But along the way, they must forge an uneasy alliance with bandit Latigo Rawlins, an old acquaintance of Mercer's - and killer of her dear friend and comrade ...