The California Delta is prime agricultural real estate, and for years has been tended by pioneering families devoted to its cultivation. Beaver Island is among the best, and the Abbott family is one of the most venerable in the Delta. But others have designs on the land, especially a real estate agent representing foreign investors that he refuses to identify. Old Anthony Abbott and his youngest son, Jack, are determined to hold out against the high-pressure tactics of the agent and his lawyer, but not everyone is so strong. The conflict leads to violence, and even murder, although in the end, it is the Delta itself that has the last word.