Spur Award-winning author. The Lazy M Ranch was battling for its very survival. Outside, Earl Shaw's hired thugs poured a withering volley of bullets into the stone pump house that stood between Oliver Major's cowpunchers and certain destruction. This battle was the culmination of a long and bitter feud between Shaw and Major for control of Buckhorn Valley. For hours, both sides lit up the stillness of a prairie night with gunfire. Suddenly Clay Hughes was sent off for help. He bolted through a hail of hot lead on a critical mission. If he failed, they would all die.