What would you do if you found a letter in the attic from your Confederate ancestor describing the location of a Union army payroll shipment captured by Rebel cavalry in the fall of 1864? How many people would you be willing to kill to get your hands on a mountain of gold and greenbacks? For John Howard, patriarch of Wild Pony Ranch, the answer to the latter question is zero. For someone else, the answer is as many as it takes.

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It's August in rural Shenandoah County, Virginia, and the air tastes like boiled wool under the relentless southern sun. Things are quiet until a devastating medical diagnosis hits the Howard family. John barely has time to absorb the news and plan his future before the situation goes from bad to tragic. Someone else knows about the letter and will do anything to get their hands on it.

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Tensions are rising along with the body count, and law enforcement seems helpless to stop the killing. When John's and his daughter's lives are directly threatened, he realizes it's time to take matters into his own hands before it's too late.

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The final confrontation on the summit of Look Back Mountain leaves John feeling shaken and betrayed. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between a friend and enemy, but it's never hard to choose family first.