Life hasn't always been easy for March and Kermit McPhee, but things are looking up. March gives birth to a healthy son, and their small gold mine is looking better and better as Kermit blasts his way along a good seam of ore. Then Kermit is crushed by a cave-in.As soon as her husband dies, crooks are at March's door, eager to get their hands on the mine. The peaceful town of Marysville, Montana, is peaceful no more. March's home is burned and her baby killed. Terrified and threatened, she is targeted by the wealthy and powerful. March fights back every way she can. She discovers she has allies: a saloon man named Tipperary Leary, an assayer named Rolf Wittgenstein, and a slippery lawyer named Hermes Apollo. Still, March must ask herself whether it is worth it; whether a gold mine, or wealth of any sort, should be defended at such a price.