Carter Malone is returning to Lonesome when a thunderstorm forces the stage to stop in Ferry Town. Then, when Bart Merrill rides into town, a gunfight erupts leaving seven men dead, including Marshal McKinney, who, before dying, entrusts Carter to continue the journey and deliver his mysterious prisoner to Lonesome. But there are gunslingers along the trail ready to free the prisoner and an old adversary from his troubled past turns up - can he ever hope to reach Lonesome?