Van Allen was a strong, arrogant man who rode roughshod over anything that got in his way. Brutal and uncaring with women, he suddenly found himself guilty of an ugly murder and in a panic, tried to cover it up and destroy the evidence. Tell Sackett was a part of that evidence, but he was not going to be easy to get rid of. Allen murdered Tell's wife, Angie, while he was away. When he returned, one of Allen's men shot him and left him for dead. Despite the severity of his wounds, Tell survived. Meanwhile, the word got out that a Sackett was in trouble. When his relatives learned of his predicament, they dropped what they were doing, loaded their guns, and rode to his aid. They included his brother, Orrin, his cousins, Nolen, Parmalee, Flagon, and Galloway. Even his cousin Lando's father, Falcon, raced to join the party, and Tell's old partner, Cap Rountree, was not far behind. Tell outwitted the forty men Allen hired to run him down. When the other Sacketts descended on them like a swarm of angry hornets, Allen found himself alone and is unrepentant to the end.