Lily Springbreeze Viner, motherless daughter of a small-time gambler and crook who taught her to shoot but wouldn't allow her to go to school, cherishes her books more than anything else, books that tell her there's a kind of life other than robbing and running in Nevada Territory. When a stagecoach job is planned with red-haired King Callahan, Lily agrees to play a part as long as there's no killing--despite the fact that she'll be riding in the coach with one-armed Brand, the shrewd and dangerous Railroad agent.