This is the story of one young woman's quest for survival and happiness in the West. Rebecca Joan Thacker had just celebrated her eleventh birthday when word was received that her father had been killed in the Civil War. She was barely thirteen when two bushwhackers dragged her into the barn on the family farm and raped her. The month before her fourteenth birthday she gave birth to a baby girl. A month prior to her fifteenth birthday, Becky's mother died leaving her all alone to raise a child. Even though Beck bore no guilt, the accusing eyes and comments of her pious Missouri neighbors made it apparent that they would rather she had died than bring a bastard child into the world. Missouri provided no opportunity for a normal life for Becky and her baby. Becky's three Branson cousins were in the West, so she joined a small wagon train bound for Texas and a new life. The wagon train was attack by Indians. Becky and her daughter, Susan, were the only survivors. She found herself alone in the wilds with only a shotgun and her grit to sustain her and her daughter. Becky is forced to kill a man who wanted to have his way with her. After surviving the harrowing journey to Dallas, Texas, Becky established a life for herself and her daughter. Then her world was turned upside down when Comancheros abducted Susan. The brave men of the church and the man who represented the law refused to go after the Comancheros. Becky took the only recourse available and went after them herself. During the quest to find and get her daughter, Becky meets Kenny Branson, the son of one of her cousins. Becky and her daughter, Susan, both love Kenny but he is her uncle's son. Nothing can come of love between first cousins.
