Seventeen-year old "Muddy" Brannick was orphaned early in his life and was raised by a series of families, including three of the territory's best lawmen. Through an unfair turn of events he is sent to Wyoming Territorial priso for a crime he didn't commit, by an alcoholic judge who hates him. After six years of prison life that leave their deep mark on him his sentence is over-turned and he comes home to settle a few accounts. He also learns that he is not an orphan and that his faather is quite a guy. In the five short stories that follow you will meet a gold panner named Willy T., a roaming blacksmith, a cowboy who can't help minding other people's business, and two railroad men heading into Dakota Territory. Enjoy. G.L. O'Connor