Perry Outworthy has a gruesome childhood memory of blood swirling through water and his mother falling dead on top of him. He knows who killed her, although the sheriff didn’t believe him when the child spoke up. Or was the sheriff afraid of Harlan Greene too? Perry grows up vowing to someday discover why Harlan Greene murdered his mother. But when after fifteen years the outlaw returns to town on the night of the big dance, Perry’s urge for vengeance gets in the way of knowledge.