Dakota Territory, 1867. The O'Driscoll brothers have survived a Sioux massacre, but Michael is gravely wounded. The deserters are fleeing north with Tom's lover, Sara, when they come upon a sheltering rock by a river down off the Bozeman trail. If there is game here, they may survive the winter. But their attempts to find food and endure the savage winter are threatened by the arrival in their camp of two trappers, whose presence sets in motion...